Quotes by Ehud Olmert

“Disengagement is a response to certain demographic realities, ... Within a few years, due to the higher Arab birth rate, Jews will become a minority in the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. I dont want [Israel] to be South Africa because we dont believe in apartheid. We simply have to separate from the Palestinians so that we can control our own destinies.”

“We can never totally return to the indefensible pre-1967 borders, ... We simply cannot afford to make Israel [9 miles] wide again at its center. We cant allow the Palestinians to be a couple [miles] from [Tel Avivs] Ben Gurion Airport in the age of shoulder-fire missiles with the capacity to shoot down jumbo jets. But that doesnt mean we must remain in every corner of the West Bank or in Gaza, where fewer than 10,000 Jews, living next to 1.3 million Palestinians, have been protected by twice as many soldiers.”

“These two leaders are determined to carry on this fight against terror, not by making statements, not by words, not by empty gestures, but by actual fighting against those who are creating the terror as such a fundamental threat to the ways of life of our countries,”

“[Palestinian militants] started this terror, they have made the use of human bombs, those suicidal attackers, as frequent as possible, ... Theyve been doing it 300 times already. ... We expect it to happen every day.”

“We are in a war, a very brutal war that has been waged against every Jewish person in the heart of Jerusalem, ... My city is bleeding, day in and day out, with tens of civilians killed.”

“There will be no reverse in this decision, ... The Orient House has become a symbol of provocations, of almost endless activities against the law of Israel and against the status of Israel in the united city of Jerusalem and as such it had to be closed.”

“This is a sign of absolute weakness by the prime minister of Israel ... if he will technically agree to it, the people of Israel will never approve it,”

“Were under pressure because we havent reached the point where we can form a stable government yet.”

“We believe that some maybe are still under the wreckage here, and the special units of the army are starting to work in order to move the wreckage in order to rescue all those that are still left here,”

“simply dont trust the Palestinians.”

I always wake up early Saturday morning, and I have a little bit more time, so I go to the gym.

I am focused on what needs to be done for the people of Israel. Period. I do not pity myself and I do not pat myself on the shoulder. I get up in the morning full of energy to fulfill my mission.

Merkel is an amazing woman, very experienced in international politics.

For me, Arik Sharon - I remember his courage and inspiration. I want to remember him the way he really was, not as an aging 80-year-old man living in bed helpless and unconscious.

The values of democracy, brotherhood, and freedom that constitute the building blocks of American society are also shared by Israeli society, together with the faith in mans power and ability to change and influence his surroundings.

I trust the integrity of the British government and the British soldiers.