Top 50 Yitzhak Rabin Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “Peace has no borders.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

2. “We must think differently, look at things in a different way. Peace requires a world of new concepts, new definitions.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

3. “You have got to sit down and talk to people. You can’t understand people from a distance.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

4. “Peace is not made with friends. Peace is made with enemies.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

5. “We can continue to fight. We can continue to kill – and continue to be killed. But we can also try to put a stop to this never-ending cycle of blood. We can also give peace a chance.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

6. “Jerusalem is united, will never be divided again.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

7. “You don’t make friends with friends. You have got to make friends with your enemies.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

8. “Peace will be victorious.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

9. “I, serial number 30743, Major General Yitzhak Rabin, am a soldier in the army of peace.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

10. “Practically the only way to dry the swamp of radical Islam is through economic development and an improved standard of living.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

11. “If you have the same problem for a long time, maybe it’s not a problem. Maybe it’s a fact.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

12. “Military cemeteries in every corner of the world are silent testimony to the failure of national leaders to sanctify human life.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

13. “Enough of blood and tears. Enough!”

— Yitzhak Rabin

14. “We do not celebrate the death of our enemies.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

15. “We’ll fight terror like there’s no peace, and make peace like there’s no terror.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

16. “We will not leave the Golan Heights, not even in exchange for a peace treaty. We will be ready for a limited compromise and it does not have to be in territorial terms.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

17. “There is no way of finding the middle ground, even with the best intentions of the world. Our most sensible policy is to stall.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

18. “Israel has an important principle: It is only Israel that is responsible for our security.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

19. “The negotiations must address all aspects, both peace and withdrawal.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

20. “No Arab ruler will consider the peace process seriously so long as he is able to toy with the idea of achieving more by the way of violence.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

21. “I believe that in the long run, separation between Israel and the Palestinians is the best solution for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

22. “Vis a vis the Golan Heights, the present government of Israel, under my leadership, is the first government that is ready to speak about a withdrawal.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

23. “Peace with Syria would provide more security than a few settlements on the Golan.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

24. “I enter negotiations with Chairman Arafat, the leader of the PLO, the representative of the Palestinian people, with the purpose to have coexistence between our two entities, Israel as a Jewish state and Palestinian state, entity, next to us, living in peace.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

25. “I was a military man for 27 years. I fought so long as there was no chance for peace. I believe that there is now a chance for peace, a great chance. We must take advantage of it for the sake of those standing here, and for those who are not here – and they are many.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

26. “For me, Jerusalem was united, will be under Israel sovereignty, will be the capital of Israel and the heart of the Jewish people.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

27. “I invite President Assad to come to Jerusalem and to speak with me, with our parliament, with whomever he wants to speak in Israel and in the territories among the Palestinians.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

28. “Israel is no longer a people that dwells alone, and has to join the global journey toward peace, reconciliation and international cooperation.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

29. “I don’t believe that in the name of the holiness of the city you have to put barbed wires, machine gun nests, mine pins and everything of that, in the name of the holiness of Jerusalem.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

30. “The Government chose to give peace a chance. The Government chose to do something to achieve it.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

31. “I’ll continue to carry out whatever we are committed to. Whatever we believe leads us to a permanent solution the way we want it, the way I want it.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

32. “We have to recognize that there is a Palestinian entity, that the PLO and the Palestinian Authority has to run their life.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

33. “It is my hope that I could be not just a Prime Minister, but a Prime Minister for Aboriginal affairs, the first I imagine that we’ve ever had.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

34. “A diplomatic peace is not yet the real peace. It is an essential step in the peace process leading towards a real peace.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

35. “I believe that it is my responsibility as the prime minister of Israel to do whatever can be done to exploit the unique opportunities that lie ahead of us to move towards peace. Not everything can be done by one act.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

36. “I am healthy. I wish all my colleagues to the peace process to be healthy.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

37. “There are two phases of the redeployment of the Israeli forces in the West Bank: One, to allow elections. Second, after the elections, to help further redeployment.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

38. “We are ready to compromise. We are ready to take calculated risks, but for a peace that will give us security.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

39. “I believe however that peace is attainable regardless of the Arabs mentality, society or government.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

40. “I admire King Hussein his courage in leading his country for a long time.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

41. “I am 73 years old. I was born in Jerusalem. I’m the first prime minister of Israel to be born here. I am the only former general to become a prime minister.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

42. “I considered the prevention of war as the test of our security policy; in addition to being able to rapidly and forcefully end any war forced upon us.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

43. “Only the change on the international scene, the crisis in the gulf, and the strong, firm position of the United States against aggression between two Arab countries created realities that led to the Madrid Peace Conference.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

44. “One of my theories about why we’ve been cranky is Australians have been forced to focus on politics or party politics a little bit more than they normally would.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

45. “In the midst of fighting there is no place for public debate.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

46. “We appreciate the efforts of the United States, of the president, of the secretary of state, and we are ready to find any form of talks, but we have to overcome the differences between Syria and Israel to reach peace.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

47. “What I, as the prime minister of the present government of Israel, started to do, is first to tackle the longest part of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

48. “We accept every form or way to talk to the Syrians how to achieve peace.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

49. “The struggle to get weapons is continuous, but the United States will aid us, if it finds Israel displaying a willingness for peace.”

— Yitzhak Rabin

50. “Steps toward a rapprochement between Israel and the Arab states create a process that turns economics into the moving force that shapes the regional relations instead of nationalist interests that were dominant in the past.”

— Yitzhak Rabin