Israel is willing to take a risk in order to make progress in the peace process.

We empathize with them and feel their pain. What we should say to them is thank you for their sacrifice. It's a pain for the country and an individual pain for those people who live there.

We're an open country with long-standing democratic traditions, and I think the Israelis will pretty much vote on who do they trust on the way to move forward. The legacy of Sharon will live on, irrespective of who succeeds him.

Israel respects Rev. Robertson and accepts his apology, which reflects his true friendship and support for the state of Israel.

This would be a strong political message from the United States ... for what we are doing. Israel is a cornerstone for stability in the Middle East.

I cannot go into operational details, but I can tell you that we are going only after terrorists and terrorist centers, and their infrastructure. We are not going there against the Palestinian people. We are there just to uproot terror.