Current position: Senator for Arizona (elected 1986)
Curriculum vitae: Born: 1936
Spent five years as a POW during the Vietnam War
Ran unsuccessfully against Bush in 2000 for Republican presidential nomination
Memorable quotes:
"We haven't taken the military option off the table [for Iran], but we should make it clear that is the very last option, only if we become convinced that they are about to acquire those weapons to use against Israel...I think that if they are capable with their repeatedly stated intention, that doesn't mean I would go to war even then. That means we have to exhaust every possible option. Going to the United Nations, working with our European allies. If we were going to impose sanctions, I would wait and see whether those sanctions were effective or not. I did not mean it as a declaration of war the day they acquired weapons." (Interview in The New Republic, October 16, 2006)
"Of course, we don't want to see the House of Saud taken over by Islamic extremists and go the way of Iran with the fall of the Shah. But we also have to understand that, unless there is progress in Saudi Arabia, sooner or later they will fall." (September 11, 2006)
"There can be no comprehensive peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians until the Palestinians recognize Israel, forswear forever the use of violence, recognize their previous agreements, and reform their internal institutions." (May 2006)
"In the wake of yesterday's Palestinian elections, Hamas must change itself fundamentally - renounce violence, abandon its goal of eradicating Israel and accept the two-state solution. These elections are evidence that democracy is indeed spreading in the Middle East, but Hamas is not a partner for peace so long as they advocate the overthrow of Israel." (Statement released the day after Hamas won the Palestinian elections, (January 26, 2006)
"The Oslo accord failed because it was based on the premise that the Palestinian and Israeli peoples could live peacefully together. The security fence will test whether they can live peacefully apart. There will be further negotiations on the exact geographic location of the fence that can be agreed upon by both parties. The United States is happy to consult and advise, but the people that determine the security of the state of Israel is the Government of Israel." (Press Conference with Silvan Shalom, August 19, 2003)
"I think the Israeli people would agree that we can't wait for rogue regimes like Iran, Iraq, and Syria to develop the weapons that would seriously challenge Israel's defenses, and our own. I think Israelis would agree that a posture of robust deterrence against aggression is no longer enough in this age of weapons of mass destruction." (Speech to American Jewish Committee, May 2002)
"Terrorism is terrorism, whether in the form of professional killers who crash civilian aircraft into buildings or amateur murderers undistinguished by anything other than their willingness to take innocent lives. A political solution to the conflict with the Palestinians is the best answer to Israeli insecurity, of course. But no moral nation--neither Israel nor America--can allow terrorists to chart the political course of its people. No freedom-loving nation can tolerate a terrorist state on its border. And no great nation can abandon the obligations of moral clarity for the convenience of situational ethics. If we are serious about the values we in America and Israel live by, and the opportunities we would like all people in the Middle East to enjoy, we can allow terrorists no role in the political process." (Speech delivered at the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, April 2002)
"In addition to her moral commitment to Israel's security, America must provide Israel with whatever military equipment and technology she requires to defend herself, above and beyond what we supply today if necessary. Our support for Israel must intensify, as threats to Israeli security have intensified." (AIPAC conference, June 2001)
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