Geopolitics needs not just rhetoric, not just certain instincts, not just political skillful manipulation; it needs vision and what the Germans call erdung - you have to be connected to the ground always. You cannot float on your wishful thinking and hope that some miracles will become reality.

Israel is surrounded by a raging sea, parts of which are not willing to accept us as a partner with equal rights among the nations. The reality we live in presents us with profound challenges, the need to effectively use all of our resources, and the need to prepare for any development, near or far. The IDF will protect the security and the future of the state. The IDF will provide the response when the order is given.

I don't feel opportunistic ever, in anything.

I can tell you I also smoked cigars 10 years before, and the watch, which is a Patek Philippe - it was my former wife who bought it for me as a gift when I completed my military service. What is all of this about anyway? I'm no wealthier than Bibi Netanyahu or Arik Sharon. I don't feel that I'm more hedonistic than Ehud Olmert, or Yitzhak Rabin or Shimon Peres.

The Palestinians are like crocodiles, the more you give them meat, they want more.

But at the end of the day, when the military command looks up, it sees us — the minister of defense and the prime minister. When we look up, we see nothing but the sky above us.

Since the Six-Day War, the whole world, which is the real arena of battle between us and the Palestinians, believes that Israel is right in regard to procedure, namely problems and disputes should be solved around the negotiating table.