The idea that the rest of the world was somehow being held hostage by the Arab-Israeli conflict once had a minimal basis in reality. In the first 20 years of Israel's existence every Arab country was in an active state of war with the Jewish state.

And in this respect the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a tragedy a clash between one very powerful very convincing very painful claim over this land and another no less powerful no less convincing claim.

The Arab-Israeli conflict is also in many ways a conflict about status: it's a war between two peoples who feel deeply humiliated by the other who want the other to respect them. Battles over status can be even more intractable than those over land or water or oil.

Twenty five percent of Israeli citizens are not even Jewish. Anybody can become an Israeli citizen if you qualify. Religion is not a criterion for citizenship.

The Israeli people must be free to live in peace and security.

By focusing once and for all on helping the Palestinians build a free society I have no doubt that an historic compromise between Israelis and Palestinians can be reached and that peace can prevail.

I'm on the board of directors for Peace Now which works tirelessly between the Palestinians and the Israelis to create peace in the Middle East and we've never been closer.

Peace should provide security. It should be durable. I'm ready to go far in making painful concessions. But there is one thing I will never make any concessions on and that's the security of the Israeli citizens and the very existence of the state of Israel. The Palestinians are losing time.

Like all Israelis I yearn for peace. I see the utmost importance in taking all possible steps that will lead to a solution of the conflict with the Palestinians.

You can set up whatever negotiations or structure you want but until the Palestinians are willing to accept the fact as the majority of Israelis do that there should be two states between the Jordan and the Mediterranean we won't have peace.