Menachem Begin Quotations

Peace is the beauty of life. It is sunshine. It is the smile of a child, the love of a mother, the joy of a father, the togetherness of a family. It is the advancement of man, the victory of a just cause, the triumph of truth. Peace is all of these and more and more.

I come to Jerusalem. There, the sky is blue and memory becomes clear.

He who threatens us will find us deaf to his threats. We are willing to listen only to rational arguments.

The ancient Jewish people gave the world the vision of eternal peace, of universal disarmament, of abolishing the teaching and learning of war.

We do not covet one inch of Lebanese territory, and the basis for the peace treaty between our two countries will be the international border, which exists now, between Rosh Haniqra and Ras en Naqura.

My colleagues and I have gone in the footsteps of our predecessors since the very first day we were called by our people to care for their future. We went any place, we looked for any avenue, we made any effort to bring about negotiations between Israel and its neighbors, negotiations without which peace remains an abstract desire.

In peace, the Middle East, the ancient cradle of civilization, will become invigorated and transformed. Throughout its lands there will be freedom of movement of people, of ideas, of goods.

After 1957, Israel had to wait 10 full years for its flag to fly again over that liberated portion of the homeland.

No one will frighten the large and free Jewish community of the United States.

Operation Peace for Galilee is not a military operation resulting from the lack of an alternative.

The framework for peace signed by Egypt and Israel is almost a peace treaty. We solved the problem for the peace treaty 98%.

The German debt to the Jewish people can never end, not in this generation and not in any other.

The Palestinian Arabs will have their autonomy, we will have our security. We shall live together.

There must be some security arrangement in the south of Lebanon so northern Israel is not threatened anymore.

UNIFIL was a complete disappointment. But a kind of multinational force.

We don't need legitimacy. We exist. Therefore we are legitimate.

We want a full peace, normalization in all fields.

You annex foreign land, not your own country.

You want me to become a leaker? I'm not. I do not leak any news from the Cabinet sessions.

Lebanon, of course, is a country with great problems. Traditionally, they have religious-national groups or ethnic-national groups. They have the Druses. Even the two Moslem sects, the Sunnis and the Shiites, are apart. Then they have the armed groups. Everybody's got a private army.

There are those who say we must rescind the Golan Heights law that was passed in the Knesset. To rescind is a concept from the days of the Inquisition. Our forefathers were burned at the stake and would not rescind their faith.

We of course will say we claim sovereignty of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza district. Others will come, and they will say we claim sovereignty. What can be the outcome?

The people of Israel have lived 3,700 years without a memorandum of understanding with America and will continue to live without it another 3,700 years.

Because of the limited usefulness I see in my continued service, I have reached the conclusion that it is best to cease my activity in the public arena,

His work is important and a major contribution to the world of economics and to theory,

We attacked selected military targets of the P.L.O. Around, civilians were hurt, I don't want to deny it. Very regrettable, very regrettable. We regret it deeply.

things you see from there are not what you see from here.

No more wars, no more bloodshed, and no more threats.

Eretz Israel will be restored to the people of Israel. All of it. And forever.

Poles did not like Jews and they were worse than Germans.

There will be no fraternal strife while the foe is at the gate.

Goyim kill goyim and the Jews are blamed.

Israel is still the only country in the world against which there is a written document to the effect that it must disappear.

Free women and men everywhere must wage an incessant campaign so that these human values become a generally recognized and practised reality. We must regretfully admit that in various parts of the world this is not yet the case. Without those values and human rights the real peace of which we dream is jeopardized.

The Egyptian army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him

In the name of Jerusalem. If I forget the extermination of the Jews, may my right hand wither, may my tongue stick to my palate if I cease to think of you, if I do not keep the extermination of the Jews in memory even at my happiest hour.

The Partition of Palestine is illegal. It will never be recognized .... Jerusalem was and will for ever be our capital. Eretz Israel will be restored to the people of Israel. All of it. And for Ever.

Israel will not transfer Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza District to any foreign sovereign authority, [because] of the historic right of our nation to this land, [and] the needs of our national security, which demand a capability to defend our State and the lives of our citizens.

The difficulties of peace are better than the agony of war.

No more wars, no more bloodshed. Peace unto you. Shalom, salaam, forever.

What kind of expression is this - "punishing Israel"? Are we a vassal state of yours? Are we a banana republic? Are we youths of fourteen who, if they don't behave properly, are slapped across the fingers? Let me tell you who this government is composed of. It is composed of people whose lives were spent in resistance, in fighting and in suffering. You will not frighten us with "punishments." He who threatens us will find us deaf to his threats. We are only prepared to listen to rational arguments. You have no right to "punish" Israel - and I protest at the very use of this term.

The Jew bows before no man only God

We were granted the right to exist by the God of our fathers at the glimmer of the dawn of human civilization nearly 4,000 years ago. For that right, which has been sanctified in Jewish blood from generation to generation, we have paid a price unexampled in the annals of the nations.