Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Yitzhak Shamir, born Icchak Jaziernicki

Russian-born Israeli Politician, Two-term Prime Minister, Zionist, Commanded the Lehi, Member of Irgun, Served with the Mossad, Knesset Speaker, Commanded Lehi-Lohamey Herut Yisrael (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel)

"I believe that the will of the people is resolved by a strong leadership. Even in a democratic society, events depend on a strong leadership with a strong power of persuasion, and not on the opinion of the masses."

"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."

"In this part of the world, Jews and Arabs will live together forever."

"Israel has an important principle: It is only Israel that is responsible for our security."

"All of the land of Israel is ours."

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

"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. "

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

"It is not worth the paper it is written on unless it is backed by the kind of force that will make the other side consider the penalties too heavy to break the agreement."

"It is unacceptable that nations made up of people who have only just come down from the trees should take themselves for world leaders . . . How can such primitive beings have an opinion of their own?"

"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."

"Our image has undergone change from David fighting Goliath to being Goliath."

"Israel's capital will never again be a divided city, a city with a wall at its center, a city in which two flags fly. This city, will, in its entirety, absorb immigrants, welcome pilgrims and be the eternal capital of Israel forever."

"Should there be maniacs who raise the idea, they will encounter an iron fist which will leave no trace of such attempts."

"The Arabs will always dream to destroy us. I do not believe that they will recognize us as part of this region."

"Of all hands in the world, it was not the hand that I wanted or dreamed of touching, ... We, the soldiers who have returned from battle stained with blood, we who have seen our relatives and friends killed before our eyes, we who have attended their funerals and cannot look into the eyes of their parents, we who have come from a land where parents bury their children, we who have fought against you, the Palestinians - we say to you today in a loud and clear voice: Enough of blood and tears. Enough. ...The time for peace has come."

"So if you want to call him a successor you may call him a successor. But he came to the same conclusion - that to be a Jewish, democratic, independent state we have to separate."

"The main message is that in a democracy, [assassination] is not the means to change policy... Unfortunately, the assassin was right: for a while, there was a freeze in process."

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

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

"We do not celebrate the death of our enemies."

"The past leaders of our movement left us a clear message to keep Eretz Israel from the Sea to the Jordan River for future generations, for the mass aliya [immigration], and for the Jewish people, all of whom will be gathered into this country."

"We have said that Israel has had a very bad history with the United Nations, and whoever cares for himself in Israel distances himself from that Organization."

"Yes to Peace, No to Violence."

"We will not rest until we reach a permanent agreement [with the Palestinians] that would secure a safe future for our children and that would provide us with renewed hope to live in a region where people lead a life of co-operation and not, God forbid, where blood is shed."

"We must never bend too much."

"You don't make peace with friends. You make it with very unsavory enemies."

"A man who goes forth to take the life of another whom he does not know must believe one thing only - that by his act he will change the course of history."

"Anybody who wants to damage this fortress and other fortresses we are establishing will have his head smashed against the boulders and walls"

"Difficult to find a justification for his decision not to make 'any attempt to check whether there was anything in what he heard. You know in those times of the Lebanese war, every day something happened. And from the first glance of it, it seemed like just another detail of what was going on every day. But after 24 hours, it became very clear it was not a normal event. [on the September 16, 1982 massacre at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps under the Israeli Army watch]"

"Had I not acted as I did, it is doubtful that we would have been able to create an independent Jewish State of our own."

"I helped Netanyahu to advance politically because when I first met him, I trusted in his beliefs and I relied on his moral commitment."

"I am certain that the Arabs feel no loyalty to the Jews."

"I was willing to continue lengthy negotiations for as long as it may take, in order to reach a comprehensive agreement. The amount of time necessary for negotiation is unimportant; the appropriateness and accuracy of the resulting agreement is what counts. For example, the negotiations concerning the Panama Canal between Panama and the United States were carried on for a very long period with no harm done."

"I like all those people, they're nice people. But this is not my style, not my language. This kind of meeting is the modern picture, but I don't belong to it."

"I would have carried out autonomy talks for ten years, and meanwhile we would have reached half a million people in Judea and Samaria."

"If history remembers me at all, in any way, I hope it will be as a man who loved the Land of Israel and watched over it in every way he could, all his life."

"If Israel has strong leadership, it can be confident, willing, and committed to overcome any obstacle."

"Israel's days without Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the Gaza Strip are gone and will not return. [on the first Infitada with the Palestinians]"

"Keep things as they are. With our long bitter experience we have to think twice before we do something. [on his second full term in office]"

"Israel will create in the course of the next 10 or 20 years conditions which would attract natural and voluntary migration of the refugees from the Gaza Strip and the west Bank to Jordan. To achieve this we have to come to agreement with King Hussein and not with Yasser Arafat"

"Netanyahu has played a game of Russian roulette. He thought that if only he supported the continuation of the process, he would be elected to the position of prime minister. He believed that if he wanted to become prime minister, he had to give in to U.S. pressure and to the demands of the public."

"The best years of my life. [on his years in the Underground]"

"Neither Jewish ethics nor Jewish tradition can disqualify terrorism as a means of combat? First and foremost, terrorism is for us a part of the political battle being conducted under the present circumstances, and it has a great part to play? in our war against the occupier."

"The driving force for the Arabs is hatred of Israel. Hatred of the Jewish people."

"The dubious honor of being of the most oppressive, tyrannical regimes in the world. [on Syria]"

"The immigration of the Jewish people to Israel from all over the world is our most important goal today. Annulment of direct election of the prime minister will bring an annulment of Netanyahu's election."

"The settlement of the Land of Israel is the essence of Zionism. Without settlement, we will not fulfill Zionism. It's that simple."

"Until you grasp the fundamental belief of some pro-Israel extremists that Palestinians are collectively sub-human, or cockroaches, as Yitzhak Shamir once called them, you never fully understand the mindset that is pushing Israel into an existential crisis."

"The Oslo accords were a great mistake because they resulted in a large loss of national land and territory. We could have recovered from this mistake if we had nullified the accords when the Likud returned to power."