Political Quotes

“This resolution is absolutely vital. It should be called the Peace Process Preservation Act because that is exactly what it is all about. I understand that to many Israelis and many Palestinians, there is enormous frustration and disappointment and impatience with the peace process, but there is absolutely no acceptable alternative to it. Only negotiations can promise a real and durable peace, a peace with security for Israel, as a Jewish and democratic state, and independence for a sovereign and viable Palestinian state. There is no magic wand. There is no shortcut. The only way to peace is negotiating in good faith and making the hard choices that it demands. Israel has shown time and again that it is ready. In the year 2000, Israel made a serious and generous offer to the Palestinians at Camp David, and then offered even more at Taba. Israel offered the Palestinians still more in 2008. And last year, Prime Minister Netanyahu, without getting any credit, came out in favor of a two-state solution and has been waiting ever since for the Palestinians to join him at the table. It is time for Abu Mazen to stop jetting around the looking for alternatives to dealing directly with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Palestinians can't, on the one hand, complain that Israeli settlements prejudge final status issues and then run around calling on other nations to try to impose a solution from the outside.”