Quotes from Ehud Olmert

Assad is the president of Syria. He enjoys fairly effective control over his country.

I'm not in power, but my ideas are in power. And my ideas will prevail.

Israel will not tolerate a situation in which Iran has effective control of non-conventional weapons that can be used directly against the state of Israel.

Israel has said many times - and I also said this to German television in an interview - that we will not be the first country that introduces nuclear weapons to the Middle East.

Don't fall in love with everything that you may have read and everything that you may have heard from any political leader, including myself.

When it was not very comfortable, politically, for me, I said things which lots of people didn't like, some of them may have liked. I said my beliefs, my truth, and my convictions, and that's how I am going to continue to do in the future.

Leadership is tested not by one's capacity to survive politically but by the ability to make tough decisions in trying times.

Iran is a major threat to the well-being of Europe and America just as much as it is for the state of Israel.

Palestinian violence is not a response to the capture of the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian nationalism's roots are not so shallow.

Abu Mazen has deprived himself of all the practical authorities of government.

Israel is prepared for a compromise. The majority of Israelis understand this compromise will be serious, will be meaningful, and will be painful.

There is a Western world. There is America. There is Great Britain and Germany and France and Russia and China and other nations. I doubt that there is one country amongst those I mentioned which has a desire to see Iran, with its fundamentalist, Islamic, extremist government, possessing nuclear weapons.

A prime minister has to keep a certain balance when dealing with sensitive issues.

What do you prefer? A prime minister obsessed with being popular, or a prime minister who does the job?

In my position as prime minister, I bear the highest responsibility for decisions.

The Goldstone Committee was formed in April of 2009, after I was not prime minister. So it was a new political situation.

When I addressed international forums as prime minister, the Israeli people expected me to present bold political initiatives that would bring peace - not arguments outlining why achieving peace now is not possible.

I want to make one thing clear: I am proud to be a citizen of a country in which a prime minister can be investigated like any other citizen.

I understand the importance which the Palestinian society attributes to the issue of prisoners.

The enemies of peace have not disappeared.

Politicians are strong to the extent that they are ready to take serious decisions and fight for it.

A prime minister must not promise things that can't be fulfilled.

There is no need to get caught up in any apocalyptic prophecies that have no basis in reality.

Emerging from embattled and humble beginnings, the Jewish state has exceeded all expectations for its success and prosperity.