Political Quotes

“For a moment, Mr. Speaker, put yourself in the position of the Prime Minister of Israel and more importantly in the position of the mothers and fathers of Israel. And I speak of Jews and Arabs, for both have been victims. Having concluded an agreement under which the parties foreswore the use of force to settle political disputes, you are suddenly subject to violent acts, including eventually the nearly daily horror of homicide bombings. You realize those acts are not opposed and actually seem to be supported by the leadership on the Palestine side. What are you to do? You just take action to defend yourself, your people, your children; and that is what Israel did and the American people support it. We must, of course, think beyond the current situation. The administration has done a good job at diffusing this crisis and minimizing the loss of life, but now they must arrive at a method to determine once and for all if Chairman Arafat, given sufficient pressure and incentive, can exert the required leadership. If not, someone with authority must take his place; but for now he is the leader of the Palestinian people and for their sake, if not his, we must go the extra mile.”