Menachem Begin Quotes

Menachem Begin presents grand, candid reflections on war and peace, a draw for those interested in the tough realities of diplomacy.

18 quotes

1. 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.

2. Goyim kill goyim and the Jews are blamed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. 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?

11. The masses will lick our feet and serve us as our slaves.

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

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. We intend to remake the Gentiles - what the Communists are doing in Russia.