David Makovsky Quotations

He wants to demonstrate that under his leadership there will be no compromises over Jerusalem. If the Palestinians choose to confront him, he will use them essentially as props to say, like his campaign slogan, that he's a 'strong leader for a strong nation,'

He has basically got to freeze the peace process to woo back alienated right-wing voters.

I think their basic view is, 'When you, the Palestinians, show that you're doing it, we'll get involved. If not we're not going to invest a lot of political capital.' I think that is the message.

The 60,000 settlers on the other side of the fence could become bargaining chips.

That suggests to me that the president wants to make sure that the change is permanent and not subject to tactical sorts of adjustments.

The right wing in Israel will be the clear beneficiaries of these (Palestinian) elections.

US efforts between now and March may have to be low profile, but Washington need not be dormant.

This is an earthquake in the Middle East. It's hard to see any negotiations now between anybody.

The administration seems like it's preoccupied with a lot of other issues from Iraq (to Hurricane) Katrina, the economy.

Gaza First, not Gaza Last. If the pull out is successful, and people see it's quieter, it could embolden moderates on both sides.

It's clearly offensive when the president of Israel makes a criticism and instead of dealing with the essence of the criticism, Netanyahu turns it around and basically questions the motives and patriotism of the president.

This is a consequential election, with monumental events. It's all about one idea: borders.

The key is for the U.S. to send an unambiguous signal that it wants to see a cooling-off period, ... Especially until it is clear what kind of policies, what kind of government Sharon will be able to put together.

The younger generation wants to see specialists, and doesn't believe everyone can move from job to job. The younger generation is more technocratic. The tendency of the old generals is to base the merits of people's worth on where they fought.

The public is jaded. They think that on the eve of the elections (Netanyahu) is doing things just to capture headlines.

I don't see how the Israeli people are served by another house here, another house there, when the big picture is to create a partnership with the Palestinians.

If his team is not on board, how is the country going to be on board?

The main event is to leverage aid and to make sure the U.S. is not alone.