Oct 1, 2007 - Address to the UN General Assembly
There is no more accurate forecast for the future of a society than the lessons it teaches its children. Unfortunately, in our region, we see children's television programs in which a Mickey Mouse puppet teaches the glory of being a suicide bomber and a seven year old girl sings of her dreams of blood and battle.
Religion, rather than being a source of hope and spiritual healing, is abused as a call to arms, as God is dragged once again onto the field of battle. It is time to reclaim religion from those who have made it a weapon rather than a shelter. It is time to reclaim education from those who use it as a tool of hate, rather than of opportunity...
We must stand up to those who, after we withdrew from Gaza to give a chance for peace, chose not to build but to destroy, and choose - on a daily basis - to target Israeli homes and kindergartens with their missiles.
And we must stand up to those who see democracy as a tool to advance hate, who see tolerance as a one-way street, and who see education as a means to poison the minds of the next generation.
Sept 24, 2007 - Address by FM Livni to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee Meeting in New York
Israel faces an intolerable dilemma, with no easy solutions. At great pain and great risk we withdrew fully from the Gaza Strip to end occupation, open Gaza to Egypt and create hopes for peace. We have received only terror in return. The families of Sderot and neighboring communities are terrorized daily by missile attacks on homes, shops and kindergartens. Gilad Shalit remains in captivity. Hamas is smuggling weapons to enhance its arsenal, increasing the range of its missiles, and suffocating the voices of hope and co-existence wherever it can.
We cannot afford to ignore this situation - a territory from which our citizens are attacked on a daily basis, dominated by a terrorist organization that rejects the very agreements it expects Israel to respect. There is no leader in this room who would tolerate this situation in their own country. And we cannot tolerate it in ours. While we remain committed to the humanitarian welfare of the civilians of Gaza, we cannot relate to the territory from which our citizens are under constant assault as though it is business as usual.
We call on the international community to do all in its power to end the attacks from Gaza. We call on it to maintain a clear distinction between the moderates and the extremists. And we call for an end to Hamas's attempt to acquire the weapons and the power to destroy the chances for peace, for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Sept 19, 2007 - Press conference with US Secy of State Rice
It's not a secret that Hamas is a terrorist organization. Hamas took over the Gaza Strip and it controls this territory. Clearly, Israel withdrew from Gaza Strip in order to end the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip and in order to reduce Israel's responsibility for the situation in the Gaza Strip. But unfortunately, even though we hoped that taking our forces out of Gaza Strip would be the beginning of the creation of a Palestinian state which would live in peace with Israel, what we got in return are terror attacks, daily terror attacks on Israel, on Sderot, on Israeli citizens.
We today declared that the Gaza Strip is a hostile territory. What this means is that although when it comes to humanitarian needs we have responsibility, all needs which go beyond humanitarian needs will not be supplied by Israel to the Gaza Strip.
We do hope that the situation in the Gaza Strip will change in the future and also that the Palestinians will understand that supporting this kind of terrorists is not going to help them.
Sept 11, 2007 - Press Conference with French Foreign Minister Kouchner
"This morning began with a deliberate attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. It doesn't make any difference to me exactly which terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack. All of Gaza is controlled by Hamas. They have the ability to stop the attacks and decided not to do so. So our policy towards them has to be radically different. It’s not a secret, and I have made it clear in the past, that Israel needs to adopt a radically different policy, towards the pragmatic leadership now ruling the West Bank on the one hand, namely Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad, and towards Gaza and the extremists there on the other."
Sept 5, 2007 - Press Conference with Italian Foreign Minister D’Alema
Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza cannot hold the stick by both ends. The formula, as both Israel and the international community understand it, is a clear distinction, including on the policy level, between our approach to Gaza and Hamas, and our approach to the West Bank and the legitimate Palestinian government.
Israel left Gaza. We opened the Philadelphi Route. According to what we’ve seen, Israel’s responsibility for what is happening with the occupation has ended, or been drastically reduced.
A situation in which Gaza has been taken over by a terrorist organization that does not recognize Israel or the previous agreements, while on the other hand Israel continues to have obligations, is simply wrong, to my mind. So I believe that this leaves room for actions that Israel can take without reaching a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, in order to convey the message to Hamas and the other terror organizations.
I must say that I also don’t care about the nuances of which organization is doing what. Gaza is controlled by Hamas. This means something, and life cannot go on as normal there as well, even if we cannot completely prevent the firing of Kassams. I think there are things that a state is obligated to do.
Sept 4, 2007 - Address to the Knesset
Gaza is today being controlled by a terrorist organization, and the truth must be told in this matter. The dialogue with Abu Mazen in the short term is not meant to provide an immediate solution to what is happening in Gaza. Therefore, if the situation there continues, the Israeli government will have to take action. I hope the dialogue will be able to provide a long-term solution.
First, we have to take action to reduce the Kassam attacks, even if we cannot prevent them entirely. I believe a price has to be paid for the daily attacks on Israel from Gaza and for the fact that children are not able to go to kindergarten. There are measures that we have the power and the ability to take in Gaza, without precipitating a humanitarian crisis, and I have recommended that we take them.
When I look at the decisions that have to be made, the last thing on my list of priorities is what the world will say about it. I admit that, when presented with the choice of acting against terror and facing a possible lack of sympathy or censure, or suffering with international sympathy, I choose action, even though the world may like it less.
I also think it should be made clear that Hamas did not conquer Gaza, but was elected to be there, and we have to behave accordingly. On the other hand, we are obliged to conduct a dialogue with Abu Mazen that represents Israel’s national and security interests, and also to make it clear to the Palestinians that there is a difference between those who chose to live under the leadership of a terrorist organization acting against Israel and those pragmatic parties who are not only able to promote dialogue but also, I hope, to reach common points of agreement with us.
Sept 3, 2007 - Press Conference with EU High Representative Solana
It is an untenable situation that Israeli children should be under Kassam rocket attack on a daily basis, while life in the Gaza Strip carries on as usual. This is totally unacceptable. And I do not refer only to military means. We all know that the Gaza Strip is dependent on Israel’s goodwill in several things, and I think that it is about time that we discuss what kind of measures and steps we can take in order to send the message that, if life in Israel is not as usual, as it needs to be, neither will life in the Gaza Strip be as usual.
Even though we may not have an immediate solution to stop the Kassams, I do think there are other measures, beyond "dramatic" military steps that we can take. Gaza is dependent on Israel and on Israel's willingness to continue letting it lead a certain type of life. I think we can, and should, think of using some of these means in order to convey the message that there is no such formula: we cannot continue to accept a situation wherein kindergarten kids are under daily threat while in Gaza life continues as usual.
Aug 14, 2007 - Press conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso
Hamas is a terrorist organization and it has also been designated as terrorist organization in Japan. The requirements of the international community are clear: to accept the right of Israel to exist, to stop and renounce terrorism and to accept former agreements. I believe that these requirements are not negotiable. I believe these are the basic needs.
The ideology of Hamas is an extreme ideology and they are not fighting for the national aspirations of the Palestinians. Rather, they are fighting to deprive others of their rights - and the others are us. I believe that the new Palestinian government understands the need to fight these extremists and Hamas, and I believe that the role of the international community is crucial in this. I believe that any compromise on terror, any compromise with extremists can lead to undermining the new government in the Palestinian Authority.
I know that it looks tempting and I know that the international community is eager to see a kind of understanding between Hamas and Fatah, and this wrong; this is a mistake. This is a big mistake; this is a huge mistake. There is now a chance in the dialogue between Israel and the new Palestinian government; we can reach something, it is there. But the only chance of success is in a dual strategy of working with the moderates while delegitimizing the extremists. Because the Palestinians need to understand also that there is no chance with these terrorists, with their extreme ideology. Israel is not punishing the Hamas because of their acts of terrorism but because there is no hope for the Palestinians and for Israel with Hamas on board.