Quotes from A. B. Yehoshua

At the heart of anti-Semitism lies Moses. He made a catastrophic error, a terrible mistake, and all anti-Semitism for two thousand years stems from his misjudgement. Moses said we Jews could remain a people without having a land. He said we don't need territory to hold onto our Jewish identity. This was a disaster.

I am a serious reader, and I read slowly.

We're living with the Arabs; we have to understand them... Through knowing the Arabs, you know yourself better.

We have to rethink the two-state solution.

This is why I am a Zionist: because Diaspora leads to hatred and the Holocaust.

In my DNA, the Zionist gene is extremely strong.

Our synagogues are spread all over the world, and we want people to respect them and look after them. And we have to respect the places of prayer of others.

So with truth - there is a certain moment when one can say, this is the truth and here I put a dot, a stop, and I go to another thing. A judge has to put an end to a deliberation. But for a historian, there's never an end to the past. It can go on and on and on.

Israel is too attached to America, too influenced by America. It should be connected to Europe. America is based on mythology - the free man, the individual, the open frontier. Europe is more conscious of history. Take Britain and Shakespeare. You shape your identity through history.

It's not what the rabbis say that defines Jewishness but what we Israelis do every day - our actions and our values.

In my own view, Hamas's frustration derives from a lack of legitimization by Israel and by much of the world. It is this frustration that leads them to such destructive desperation. That's why we need to grant them status as a legitimate enemy - before we talk about an agreement or, alternatively, about a frontal war.

Traveling is one expression of the desire to cross boundaries.