This is not a negotiation of give and take because Israel has something to give but has nothing to take...[Statement before the 50th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Geneva, February 10, 1994]
I don't think we should judge the process by the performance of Yasir Arafat. We're not negotiating with Yasir Arafat. We're negotiating with ourselves... [Jewish Week, June 2, 1994]
(Asked about Arafat's post Oslo promise to conduct jihad against Israel) What counts is not the intentions of the Palestinians. What counts is the confrontation between two realities. [Jerusalem Post International Edition, Week ending August 26, 1995]
Every offer which exists dies. It is always necessary to come with new proposals to bridge the gap. What already exists brings up opposition which already exists. [Interview on Israeli television cited in The Jewish Press, November 24, 1995]
All known solutions are dead ones. The art of negotiation is to invent and create and not to hang from the cliffs of yesterday. (New York Times, November 23, 1995, p. 6)
The real problem in any negotiations is the existence of another party. And this is very hard to overcome, believe me, because when you see the other party you may forget who sent you over to negotiate, and you may feel some blowing winds in your back. [Speech at Washington Institute for Near East Studies, February 2, 1994]
I would say that among Palestinians a written agreement is 40% serious commitment and 60% rhetoric and decoration. [Survey of Arab Affairs, December 1, 1995]
We do not want to continue to hold onto Syrian land. The Golan Heights are Syrian land, and we are sitting on the land of the Syrians. [Yediot Achronot, May 28, 1995)
(Responding to an interviewer who asked "Are you saying that what Arafat told you in Oslo is sufficient, that he does not have to sign any new commitments?") I am not a notary who writes affidavits. [Kol Israel, May 23, 1994]
Under the present climate, I do not see a possible agreement on a map. So we have suggested, instead of having a permanent map, we have a transitional voyage from the present planet to a new planet.... [Briefing to Foreign Journalists, June 28, 1993]
Whoever suggests a permanent solution, suggests a permanent conflict. Because I do not believe that the Palestinian side and our side can reach an agreement....That is the idea of having an interim solution. Instead of having a nut, having a calendar. [Meeting with Palestinian journalists, Jerusalem, March 8, 1994]
(In response to a question whether he still believes Arafat's promises) I believe in peace. [Kol Israel interview, May 23, 1994]
Reporter: How did you conclude things when you reached an understanding?
Pere: He [Arafat] would take out a small notebook and write in it in Arabic.
Reporter: And you?
Peres: I remember quite well what we agreed.
[Ma'ariv, September 24, 1995]