Benjamin Netanyahu

"I believe, so I was taught, by my late father Prof. Benzion Netanyahu, and so he was taught by my grandfather of blessed memory, Rabbi Natan Milikowsky Netanyahu, I believe that the Holy One Blessed Be He and history have given the Jewish people another opportunity, a golden opportunity, to turn our country into a strong nation, one of the strongest nations of the world and it is to that end that I do what I do. A strong country, a country in which it is good to live, a country that it is good and safe to live in, for our sake and for the sake of the coming generations, for the sake of the eternal Israel."

"In the first day of the fighting, America's new president, Joe Biden, called me. We had known each other for close to forty years, from the time we both came to Washington, he as young senator from Delaware, and I as deputy chief of Israel's embassy to the United States. Four days after the 2020 elections Biden was declared president-elect. In the twenty four hours after that declaration I followed twenty other world leaders in offering my congratulations. This elicited the ire of President Trump, who to this day believes that I was the first to do so."

"In Madrid, Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi and I also sparred it out in endless television appearances that were broadcast around the world. She was a worthy opponent."

"Writing the book consumed me. On a good day, writing forces you to distill ideas, to order them logically and to breathe life into them with unexpected language. For me there is no more satisfying intellectual exercise."

"Clinton warned me to continue on two political tracks, the Palestinian and the Syrian one, and to make far-reaching concessions in both…"

"I think the reason you have the persistence of the palestinian israeli conflict, which goes back about a century, is the persistent palestinian refusal to recognize a jewish state, a nation state for the jewish people in any boundary."

"Citizens of Israel, we are at war – not in an operation, not in rounds – at war."

"We are embarking on a long and difficult war. The war was forced upon us by a murderous attack by Hamas."

"Israel is at war. We didn’t want this war. It was forced upon us in the most brutal and savage way. But though Israel didn’t start this war, Israel will finish it."

"This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle."

"I am dealing with stopping the destruction of this country' and that 'Iran is planning our annihilation, Hezbollah is planning our annihilation, they’re in a ring around us and we’re saying we won’t go like sheep to the slaughter"

"I didn’t intend to come here this year. My country is at war, fighting for its life. But after I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight. I decided to come here to speak for my people. To speak for my country, to speak for the truth. And here’s the truth: Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace and will make peace again. Yet we face savage enemies who seek our annihilation, and we must defend ourselves against them."

"Hamas kidnapped 251 people from dozens of different countries, dragging them into the dungeons of Gaza. Israel has brought home 154 of these hostages, including 117 who returned alive. I want to assure you, we will not rest until the remaining hostages are brought home too, and some of their family members are here with us today."

"Far from being lambs led to the slaughter, Israel’s soldiers have fought back with incredible courage and with heroic sacrifice. And I have another message for this assembly and for the world outside this hall: We are winning."

"In this body and the Security Council, we’re going to have a deliberation in a few months. And I call on the Security Council to snap back UN Security Council sanctions against Iran because we must all do everything in our power to ensure that Iran never gets nuclear weapons. For decades, I’ve been warning the world against Iran’s nuclear program. Our actions delayed this program by perhaps a decade, but we haven’t stopped it. We’ve delayed it, but we haven’t stopped it. Iran now seeks to weaponize its nuclear program. For the sake of the peace and security of all your countries. For the sake of the peace and security of the entire world, we must not let that happen. And I assure you, Israel will do everything in its power to make sure it doesn’t happen."

"Just imagine, for those who say Hamas has to stay, it has to be part of a post-war Gaza—imagine, in a post-war situation after World War II, allowing the defeated Nazis in 1945 to rebuild Germany? It’s inconceivable. It’s ridiculous. It didn’t happen then, and it’s not going to happen now. This is why Israel will reject any role for Hamas in a post-war Gaza. We don’t seek to resettle Gaza. What we seek is a demilitarized and de-radicalized Gaza. Only then can we ensure that this round of fighting will be the last round of fighting."

"In this battle between good and evil, there must be no equivocation. When you stand with Israel, you stand for your own values and your own interests. Yes, we’re defending ourselves, but we’re also defending you against a common enemy that, through violence and terror, seeks to destroy our way of life. So there should be no confusion about this, but unfortunately, there is a lot of it in many countries and in this very hall, as I’ve just heard."

"We see yet another profound moral confusion when self-described progressives march against the democracy of Israel. Don’t they realize they support the Iranian-backed goons in Tehran and in Gaza, the goons who shot down protesters, murder women for not covering their hair, and hang gays in public squares? Some progressives. According to the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Iran funds and fuels many of the protesters against Israel. Who knows, maybe some of the protesters or even many of the protesters outside this building now?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, the real war criminals are not in Israel. They’re in Iran. They’re in Gaza, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Yemen. Those of you who stand with these war criminals, those of you who stand with evil against good, with the curse against the blessing, those of you who do so should be ashamed of yourselves. But I have a message for you: Israel will win this battle. We will win this battle because we don’t have a choice."

"Days when terrorist leaders can enjoy immunity anywhere are over"

"Jesus Christ has no advantage over Genghis Khan because if you are strong enough, ruthless enough, powerful enough, evil will overcome good"

"Who the fuck does he think he is? Who's the fucking superpower here?"

"He did superbly, He was very bright. Organized. Strong. Powerful. He knew what he wanted to do and how to get it done. He's not the flippant, superficial person I keep reading about in the newspapers. He was organized and committed."

"The fact is he's working against the principles of the Likud. He has no principles at all. I don't see any principles."

"Netanyahu's Eurocentric discourse (he often speaks of and in the name of the "civilized world," i.e., Israel and the West as opposed to the uncivilized Arab East) perfectly enacts the American professional manner with very little accent, presumably offering a reasonable outlook. Netanyahu represents precisely the dominant Israeli fantasy of Americanization, and reinforces the image of Israel as a Western outpost on an Eastern frontier."

"There’s a war criminal coming to this country. ... The occupation and expansion … building of settlements, of occupied territory, this is according to the Rome Statute, which is… the setup… the statute on which the is based, in so many words, a . ... So why should we receive someone who continues with such things, we could have sent him right away to the international criminal court, that would have been better"

"Netanyahu has become a character witness for right-wingers accused of anti-Semitism. When asked at a press conference in February why he hadn’t been more vocal in condemning anti-Semitic attacks, Trump responded, “You heard Netanyahu yesterday….he said, forget it.” After Glenn Beck repeatedly called Soros a “puppet master,” In 2010, Netanyahu defended Beck for his “courage and integrity” in “defending Israel against the slanders that are hurled against it”...This isn’t surprising. In Netanyahu, men like Orban and Trump see a leader who builds border walls, disdains international institutions and takes a hard line against Muslims. They see the very nationalism that they think liberal Diaspora Jews like Soros lack. And Netanyahu returns the admiration because he’s pursuing the same authoritarian agenda in Israel that they are pursuing in Europe and the United States. Netanyahu, like Orban, has pushed legislation to cripple NGOs that criticize his government. Netanyahu’s government, like Orban’s, has tried to limit academic freedom. And the more Orban and Trump undermine the European Union and the United Nations, the happier Netanyahu will be. Because those institutions champion international law, which Israel massively violates by holding millions of Palestinians as stateless non-citizens, without free movement, due process or the right to vote, in the West Bank."

"The Israelis always wanted two things that once it turned out they had, it didn't seem so appealing to Mr. Netanyahu. … The real cynics believe that the Netanyahu's government's continued call for negotiations over borders and such means that he's just not going to give up the West Bank."

"A war crimes complaint has been filed against President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump adviser Jared Kushner in the International Criminal Court (ICC).... The complaint, filed by Middlesex University law professor William Schabas on June 30 on behalf of four Palestinians who live in the West Bank, states “there is credible evidence” that Trump, Netanyahu and Kushner “are complicit in acts that may amount to war crimes relating to the transfer of populations into occupied territory and the annexation of the sovereign territory of the State of Palestine.” ...Schabas’ complaint comes on the heels of unusual moves last month from the Trump administration, which declared a “national emergency” in June in an effort to shield U.S. and Israeli officials from ICC accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity."

"We are dealing with terrorists, but you are not, because you are a terror state...You are also a terrorist; history is recording what you have done to all those oppressed Palestinians. We are not guilty of any act of occupation."

"A law-abiding state? Laws can be broken, bent or ridiculed. Dozens of laws which were subject the daunting legislation process under the previous government – his government! – met their early demise in the passed year, just because they were passed by parties who were later exiled to the opposition. ... Concurrently, he initiates, or enables, various wacos in his party to initiate laws which are of clear and immediate threat, amongst them laws that put to ridicule the very foundations of democracy, laws that undermine the principles of social equality, laws which bruise Israel's reputation, laws that make a mockery of war against corruption, laws that destroy secular education. And the list goes on. ... The Messiah King Netanyahu, in his view, can't make do with a mere fence protecting us against the deadly animals of the Middle East in order to salvage the State of Israel. The prime minister wishes to weaken the political system, and while doing so, dwarf his ministers as well. On the second tier, he is trying to undermine trust in holders of public positions and eliminate their ability to stand in his way. On the third tier he is doing all he can, literally all he can, to kill the free press. ... It has not been worded by a Leftist from the state of , but by right wing folk who are closely acquainted with the prime minister. They speak of him in awe, some even admire him, and they undoubtedly support his political views and his macro-economical perceptions. But, none the less, Netanyahu's "big plan" – to destroy democracy in order to save the state – scares them. They shared their fears with the writer of this column, out of true and utter anxiety."

"a foremost hawk"

"How dare you! You are the one who disappointed us. You haven't made a single step to advance peace."

"He lies on a regular basis. He says what he feels that he needs to say for his own benefit, and then he does what he feels that he needs to do for his own benefit as well. And all too often it doesn’t go together."

"Everything that Netanyahu is indicted for, involved when he is being prime minister that he violated the authority of prime minister in order to benefit himself, to benefit his friends, for his own personal interests, this is a fundamental defect... while I decided that I resigned at the very early stage because I felt that it will not be appropriated for prime minister to get into direct confrontation with law enforcement of the country. No one is above the law, I suffered from this, but I bowed my head and I said, the courts are above me...Netanyahu thinks he is not only above the courts but he's also above the country, this one would not work..."

"What I fear is going on in the House now is an effort to target Congresswoman Omar as a way of stifling that debate. That’s wrong Anti-Semitism is a hateful and dangerous ideology which must be vigorously opposed in the United States and around the world We must not, however, equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel."

"Nicolas Sarkozy: I cannot bear Netanyahu, he's a liar"

"Barack Obama: You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you."

"It is not American Jews who have betrayed their Israeli cousins. It is the Netanyahu-led Israeli government that has betrayed Jews outside Israel, by aligning itself with nationalist parties in countries like Poland and Hungary, who are hostile to the ideals that make it possible for Jews in the diaspora to live free of persecution."

"The public must recognize this simple equation: The continued rule of Netanyahu, as well as of any right-wing coalition that opposes a diplomatic solution and a dividing of the land, means the continued flourishing of a Hamas government and further routine, lethal rocket fire against Israel. Bibi needs a strong Hamas; this should be the new slogan of Netanyahu’s opponents."

"In the 1980s when you [Netanyahu] were Israel's representative to the United Nations, I once sat at your New York dinner table, and you were a conversational bully to your guests then, just as you are a bully to these two elected women leaders [Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar] now."

"Israel targeting media sources is so the world can't see Israel's war crimes led by the apartheid-in-chief Netanyahu. It's so the world can't see the killing of babies, children and their parents. It's so the world can't see Palestinians being massacred."

"I spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. I told Bibi, you know we give Israel 4.5 billion dollars a year. And they are doing very well at defending themselves I’m the one that moved the embassy to Jerusalem. I was the one who was willing to do that. So that’s the way it is - we are going to take great care of Israel. Israel is going to be good. We give Israel 4.5 billion a year. And we give frankly a lot more than that if you look at the books. They’ve been doing a good job"

"The current prime-minister spoke at and attended rallies in which Yitzhak Rabin was compared to a Nazi, and crowds were calling for his death. He represents a malignant force in Israeli society and the whole body politic of the Jewish people. This man is allowed to speak at The Jewish Federations of North America. He’s allowed to speak anywhere he wants in the Jewish community throughout the world. I think he should be shunned completely. There is no shortage of rage. There’s not much of an inclination to compromise, or moderate one’s feelings, when this person claims to be the representative of the Jewish people."

"I call Trump Netanyahu with smaller hands in the introduction. Netanyahu shares a lot in common with Trump. Including demagoguery, bigotry, attacks on the press, attacks on institutions of democracy, attacks on human rights organizations. I don’t know if Trump has gone that far yet, but he will. It’s a similar method of autocrats. It was inconceivable to me for the past ten years that anyone in a Jewish communal organization or institution would allow Netanyahu into its doors, because he’s the kind of thing that we have feared. And yet, he’s the head of the Jewish state."

"The root cause of terrorism lies not in grievances but in a disposition toward unbridled violence. This can be traced to a world view which asserts that certain ideological and religious goals justify, indeed demand, the shedding of all moral inhibitions."

"Tamir Pardo says Israeli government is in the grip of 'extreme lunatics' and 'horrible racists'... The former head of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad said on Thursday that his country's government is in the grip of extremist factions that are "a lot worse" than the Ku Klux Klan.... Pardo, who served Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as head of Mossad from 2011 to 2016, said that by inviting Ben Gvir, Smotrich and other far-right politicians to join his coalition, Netanyahu had taken the Israeli equivalent of the "Ku Klux Klan and brought it into the government". Pardo said that Netanyahu is responsible for Israel's current polarisation, adding that the prime minister is leading a coalition government made up of "extreme lunatics"."

"The disaster that befell Israel on the holiday of Simchat Torah is the clear responsibility of one person: Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister, who has prided himself on his vast political experience and irreplaceable wisdom in security matters, completely failed to identify the dangers he was consciously leading Israel into when establishing a government of annexation and dispossession."

"[T]he military and intelligence failure does not absolve Netanyahu of his overall responsibility for the crisis, as he is the ultimate arbiter of Israeli foreign and security affairs."

"I think that the government... is going to pay a hell of a price, and it will — must go home. I don’t see the situation in which Netanyahu continues, and all the ministers around him, who are, all of them, no ones, fascists, and they, part of them, would even be defined in Europe as neo-Nazis, those people who called for all kind of terrible things to do and did nothing to make Israel prepared for any danger, and continue now to doing nothing. That’s so astonishing that we are now the fifth day after the war, and you don’t see the government. They are still preoccupied with their own political careers, with all kind of political manipulations. Nobody takes care of the situation. Israel is really falling apart, from this point of view. And the man who governed Israel for the last 15 years is the one, and the only one, to be blamed, before anyone else. This goes without saying. And I guess at six after the war, as we say, million Israelis will go to the streets, and they will have only one demand: At least, Netanyahu, go home. If not, Netanyahu, go to court and be sentenced for this irresponsible policy that you have been committing."