27 quotes by King Abdullah II

“I don't think the Middle East could afford another war.”— King Abdullah II

“I have the responsibility of over four million people, and I am in a position to do good, to be able to bring about a new life for my people, and I will continue to move in that direction. It's a burden, but it needs to be done, and you have to have the courage and wisdom to see it through.”— King Abdullah II

“Prime Minister Sharon, Prime Minister Abbas, I urge you today to end the designs of those who seek destruction, annihilation and occupation, and I urge you to have the will and the courage to begin to realize our dreams of peace, prosperity and coexistence.”— King Abdullah II

“For me, I am left leaning when it comes to health and education, on the right when it comes to defense. So I don't know where I come on the political spectrum. And I think this the challenge that a lot of Jordanians have to deal with.”— King Abdullah II

“It's a tremendous responsibility to be direct descendants of the prophet Muhammad. This family has had the burden of leadership on its shoulders for 1,400 years. I'm not going to drop the ball on my shift.”— King Abdullah II

“Jerusalem is a time bomb that I fear is just waiting to go off.”— King Abdullah II

“Over the past few years, the road to confrontation has shown its consequences: loss of innocent lives, destruction and fear. Most costly, however, was the loss of hope. The most precious gift that you can present to your peoples over the coming weeks is renewed hope born out of tangible progress on the ground.”— King Abdullah II

“Many will view the compromises that will be made during your negotiations as painful concessions. But why not view them as peace offerings, ones that will provide in return the priceless gifts of hope, security and freedom for our children and our children's?”— King Abdullah II

“If you believe that the killing of innocent people is right, then you are not part of my future.”— King Abdullah II

“The security and the future of Jordan is hand-in-hand with the future of the Palestinians and the Israelis.”— King Abdullah II

“Blowing up buses will not induce the Israelis to move forward, and neither will the killing of Palestinians or the demolition of their homes and their future. All this needs to stop. And we pledge that Jordan will do its utmost to help achieve it.”— King Abdullah II

“The incentive that you give to your youth is going to be the make-or-break future of the country.”— King Abdullah II

“If you have a government that is elected, they need to do the hard work - because if they don't, they won't be around the next time the ballot box is open.”— King Abdullah II

“The Middle East has the highest unemployment percentage of any region in the world we have the largest youth cohort of history coming into the market place that frustration does translate into the political sphere when people are hungry and without jobs.”— King Abdullah II

“Is Israel going to continue to be 'Fortress Israel'? Or, as we all hope, become accepted into the neighborhood, which I believe is the only way we can move forward in harmony.”— King Abdullah II

“I hope that none of the countries in the Middle East are planning anything but the peaceful utilization of nuclear energy.”— King Abdullah II

“At the end of the day we want to bring stability and hope to Iraq. That's the only way to defeat terrorism.”— King Abdullah II

“We have to always hope in humanity that people will make the right choices.”— King Abdullah II

“If you look at military and intelligence positions from the 1950s, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has always been against American national interests.”— King Abdullah II

“Mr. President, prime ministers, let us have ambitions: ambitions to move beyond the violence and occupation, to the day when two states, Palestine and Israel, can live together side by side in peace and security.”— King Abdullah II

“We have peace with Israel. We're actually the last man standing. So there is going to be immense pressure and people asking, 'Why are we having this relationship when it's not benefiting anybody?' Obviously, my answer is you always benefit from peace.”— King Abdullah II

“Peace with Israel is a strategic imperative for Jordan.”— King Abdullah II

“You're always going to have extremists in every religion.”— King Abdullah II

“I think the debate in our society now is that people have to agree on zero-tolerance to terrorism.”— King Abdullah II

“I think the success of democracy is not really police security it's the presence of a broad middle class. The stronger the middle class of a people is, the less you have to worry about one group coming in and exploiting the democratic process for its own ends.”— King Abdullah II