Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)
Peace Processes
Israeli-Arab
“Even if there are many hardships, even if the effort is tremendous, even if we must live through moments of disappointment and hours of frustration, we still have no doubt in our hearts Arab nations are joining us on the path to peace. The path is indeed long, and our work is not nearly done.”
Address to the Knesset on the Washington Declaration, August 3, 1994
Israel-Jordan
“Friends say to us: ‘The pace of events is too fast. We cannot keep up. Wait a moment.’ We have waited forty-six years. We have gone through war, pain and suffering. To prevent further loss and sorrow, we cannot wait even one day more. It looks like the walls of hostility are tumbling down before our eyes and all this would have been impossible, had not the two peoples, the Jordanians and the Israelis, and their leadership wanted this to happen.”
Speech at the opening of the Arava border crossing between Israel and Jordan, August 8, 1994
Israel-Lebanon
“The negotiations with Lebanon are connected to the negotiations with Syria, and we know that Beirut will not lift a finger without the approval of Damascus. Despite this, we repeat even today our offer to the authorities in Beirut.”
Address at the opening of the Knesset, April 18, 1994
Israel-Palestinian
“I want to say bluntly, that we have found a partner for peace among the Palestinians as well: the PLO, which was an enemy, and has ceased to engage in terrorism.”
Speech at a Tel Aviv peace rally, hours before he was shot, November 4, 1995
“We came with a desire to make peace, and I must tell you, Members of Knesset, that we also found a willingness for peace on the other side, on the part of the Palestinians who have also known great suffering for generations. Both we and the Palestinians knew that we would not receive everything we want, and the Palestinians would not get everything they want. That is the nature of negotiations. That is the nature of compromise. That is the nature of peace.”
Address at the opening of the Knesset, April 18, 1994
Israel-Syria
”Without partners for peace, there is no peace…Even with Syria, it will be possible to make peace."
Speech at a Tel Aviv peace rally, hours before he was shot, November 4, 1995
Power of Leadership
”I was a military man for 27 years. I waged war as long as there was no chance for peace…I believe there is now a chance for peace, a great chance, and we must take advantage of it for those standing here, and for those who are not here - and they are many. I have always believed that the majority of the people want peace and are ready to take a chance for peace."
Speech at a Tel Aviv peace rally, hours before he was shot, November 4, 1995
“What are the options which face us after 27 years of ruling and I do not want to use other terms an entity which is different from ourselves religiously, politically, nationally; another people? The first is to leave the situation as it is, to make proposals that do not have and never had a partner and there can be no agreement without a partner. To try and perpetuate the rule over another people, to continue on a course of never-ending violence and terrorism, which will bring about a political impasse. All the Governments of Israel certainly since the Yom Kippur War have understood the danger inherent in such an impasse. Accordingly, all the governments have sought the second option. The second option is to try and find a political solution initially through agreements on the separation of forces. The Government of Menachem Begin chose this path in the peace agreement with Egypt. The Government of Yitzhak Shamir also went this way, in consenting to the Madrid peace conference. We have also chosen this path with the Oslo talks and the signing of the agreement in Washington.”
Address at the opening of the Knesset, April 18, 1994
"Our dream is also your dream. King Hussein, President Mubarak, Chairman Arafat, all the others, and above all the President, Bill Clinton — a president working in the service of peace — we all love the same children, weep the same tears, hate the same enmity, and pray for reconciliation. Peace has no borders."
Speech at the signing of the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement, September 28, 1995
Nuts and Bolts of the Peace Process
“The road to reconciliation leads through the prisons. In our prisons, there are currently more than five thousand Palestinian prisoners who, in accordance with the Government’s decision, will be released.”
Speech in the Knesset upon ratification of Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement, October 5, 1995
“There are endless possibilities to enter Israel from the territories fewer from Gaza, more from Judea and Samaria. Many paths, both covert and exposed, lead from the territories into Israel. We cannot hermetically seal the territories before individual infiltration.”
Address at the opening of the Knesset, April 18, 1994
Role of the Public
“The debate goes on: Who shapes the face of history - leaders or circumstances? My answer to you is: We all shape the face of history. We, the People. We the farmers behind our plows, the teachers in our classrooms, the doctors saving lives, the scientists at our computers, the workers on the assembly line, the builders on our scaffolds. We, the mothers blinking back tears as our sons are drafted into the army; we, the fathers who stay awake at night worried and anxious for our children’s safety. We, Jews and Arabs. We, Israelis and Jordanians. We, the people, we shape the face of history.”
Address to the United States Congress, July 26, 1994
A Biography of Yitzhak Rabin
