Gideon Meir Quotations

Until now, we had a lot of patience, but patience is running out,

Words, words and words are not action. We need action,

We need to make sure the Palestinians stick to their commitments.

We have to tighten our security around the cities and that is what we are doing.

We had no choice. We did what any democracy would have done.

What we saw tonight in Tel Aviv was the Palestinian response to the Mitchell report,

This was the most difficult place, no question about that. But in the end it went faster than anyone imagined.

What's been going on these last few days has been so moving,

What Arafat is looking for is a deterioration, a regional deterioration, in order to take the whole region into a major war, ... This Week.

We tried to do it a few months ago. At that time, he managed to run away. This time we got him.

After 38 years, we are leaving Gaza in order to enable the Palestinians to run their own lives ... Now it is their turn to show they can run a normal life, a normal economy, have a new beginning.

A process that the Israel government ... took upon itself in order to extend our hand in peace to the Palestinians. This is what Israel is willing to do in order to live in peace with the Palestinians.

Arafat is not the target. This response is the minimum Israelis can do as an act of self-defense after the massive, vicious terror attacks on civilians.

They are paying a really painful price. It's a painful process.

The international community must stand behind the commitments it made before these elections. We must make sure that no one has contact with a government that includes a terrorist organization.

If you can take these two things together as a package, it emphasizes once again why we insist, and the U.S. administration insists, that the Palestinian Authority crack down on Hamas and Islamic Jihad, ... There is no negotiating with them, no talking. This is not language they understand. Putting them under a political umbrella will not help. They must be fought.

Instead of being happy and celebrating the Israeli departure from Gaza, they are whining and crying, ... This will not help them build a future Palestinian state. What will the Israelis say if they are asked to make any more sacrifices? I don't know, but they may think it's not worth it if this is the result.