28 Quotes by Tom Segev

Yes, Hitler is in Tel Aviv and the sky isn't falling. No, this doesn't mean that Israeli hearts are coarsened to the memory of the Holocaust; on the contrary ? the Holocaust is planted so deep in the components of Israeli identity that almost nothing can get to it.

We were always told we cannot use them, we cannot publish them because it would help Holocaust deniers. Now suddenly these papers are being released to fight the Holocaust deniers.

So I think the reaction to this is people saying, 'Here, politicians, divide the country and leave me alone.

He enjoys the status of a father figure. He's not anymore conceived of as a normal politician but a larger-than-life figure. He's almost like a museum-type of man. There's a feeling that the last tycoon is gone now.

Most Israelis are tired of the big decision. It is as if they're saying to the politicians do your thing and leave me alone. This used to be a very deeply divided society. For 40 years, we have been debating about the future of the territories, and people now feel that question has been decided.

For a long time Israelis have long stopped going to Gaza even if they have continued to carry out their military obligations. They are not even able to pinpoint these famous settlements on a map.

It's like everybody's a relative: the whole country's glued to the radio or the TV, waiting for details from the hospital.

He took the Holocaust out of its Jewish limitations and made it a source of energy in the universal struggle against racism and for human rights. That's probably more important than his role in locating Nazi criminals.

The truth is that deep down, the Israelis are still convinced that the presence of thousands of settlers of a hostile population of 1.3 million Palestinians is a situation that could not last.