There is nothing that I'd love to do more than negotiate with Palestinians. This is my desire. This is my dream. This is my mission.

I was not born to be prime minister, and I'm not going to stay here until the end of my life. I'm too young for that.

Israel will not tolerate a situation in which Iran has effective control of non-conventional weapons that can be used directly against the state of Israel.

Leadership is tested not by one's capacity to survive politically but by the ability to make tough decisions in trying times.

The military operation in Lebanon was the most successful military operation in recent Israeli history. Many in Israel don't recognise that.

For thousands of years, we Jews have been nourished and sustained by a yearning for our historic land. I, like many others, was raised with a deep conviction that the day would never come when we would have to relinquish parts of the land of our forefathers. I believed and to this day still believe in our people's eternal and historic right to this entire land.

I don't want to block every contact with the Palestinians, I think that would be a mistake, and I think that Abu Mazen has an independent status as democratically elected head of the Palestinian people, and it's important if I will talk with him.