--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I never believed that Israel had the…" description: "\"I never believed that Israel had the right to exist at all.\" — Tom Paulin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e9/tom-paulin-20416_believed_i-never-believed-that-israel-had-the-rig_1199308.png" --- # I never believed that Israel had the right to exist at all. ![“I never believed that Israel had the right to exist at all.” quote by Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e9/tom-paulin-20416_believed_i-never-believed-that-israel-had-the-rig_1199308.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e9/tom-paulin-20416_believed_i-never-believed-that-israel-had-the-rig_1199308.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e9/tom-paulin-20416_believed_i-never-believed-that-israel-had-the-rig_1199308.png) > “I never believed that Israel had the right to exist at all.” [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statement denies Israel's legitimacy to exist. **In simple terms:** Denial of Israel's right to exist. Key Takeaway Recognize the impact of such claims on discourse. Themes politics conflict human rights Mood critical serious Type political controversial When to use this quote - diplomatic negotiations - human rights advocacy - educational curricula - null Key Concepts nationalism legitimacy Questions to Reflect On - What historical factors shape this viewpoint? - How can dialogue be fostered despite deep disagreements? A Different Perspective Such absolute statements can hinder constructive dialogue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed/) [Believed Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed-israel-3391762/) [Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exist/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Israel Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel-right-396451/) [Right Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-exist-271282/) ## Related quotes > [I'm for Israel's right to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-franken/i-m-for-israel-s-right-to-exist/) [Al Franken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-franken/) > [Israel's right to exist in peace and security is not in debate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/israel-s-right-to-exist-in-peace-and-security-is-not-in-debate/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [I have long believed that Israel should seek to give up the so-called Occupied Territories in return for security, and that a Palestinian state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russ-feingold/i-have-long-believed-that-israel-should-seek-to-give-up-the-so-called/) [Russ Feingold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russ-feingold/) > [Like every other sovereign nation, Israel has the right to determine its own capital.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-mast/like-every-other-sovereign-nation-israel-has-the-right-to-determine/) [Brian Mast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-mast/) > [I am a Zionist, an ardent supporter of Israel, its defender when I deem Israel to be right and its critic when I deem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-bikel/i-am-a-zionist-an-ardent-supporter-of-israel-its-defender-when-i-deem/) [Theodore Bikel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-bikel/) > [Our right to Exist & to Exit from this world is in hands with Omni-existent Power. Then the rules for our rights & wrongs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farrukh-sheikh/our-right-to-exist-to-exit-from-this-world-is-in-hands-with-omni/) [Farrukh Sheikh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farrukh-sheikh/) > [Rocks, like louseworts and snail darters and pupfish and 3rd-world black, lesbian, militant poets, have rights, too. Especially the right to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/rocks-like-louseworts-and-snail-darters-and-pupfish-and-3rd-world/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Fashion has a right to exist, because it permits the people to define themselves over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-demeulemeester/fashion-has-a-right-to-exist-because-it-permits-the-people-to-define/) [Ann Demeulemeester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-demeulemeester/) > [All these other creatures have an equal right to exist here. We have no prior rights to the Earth than anybody else, and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prince-philip/all-these-other-creatures-have-an-equal-right-to-exist-here-we-have/) [Prince Philip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prince-philip/) > [“I put in no claims either for happiness, for gratification, or even for the common comforts of life: yet, surely, I had a right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hays/i-put-in-no-claims-either-for-happiness-for-gratification-or-even-for/) [Mary Hays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hays/) > [Israel has an absolute right to exist - not only to exist - but to exist in a way that they're not under threat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/israel-has-an-absolute-right-to-exist-not-only-to-exist-but-to-exist/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [There are so many different stories. You can choose to tell them, or not, but they certainly have the right to exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-slate/there-are-so-many-different-stories-you-can-choose-to-tell-them-or/) [Jenny Slate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-slate/) > [The usual false conclusions of mankind are these: a thing exists, therefore it has a right to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-usual-false-conclusions-of-mankind-are-these-a-thing-exists/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The chance emergence of the was nothing. Remember this. But its persistence and patient accumulation of stature were everything. Only by relentless effort did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/the-chance-emergence-of-the-was-nothing-remember-this-but-its/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [I think copyright has its right to exist, absolutely, and I think that it's up to copyright creators to come up with new solutions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-dotcom/i-think-copyright-has-its-right-to-exist-absolutely-and-i-think-that/) [Kim Dotcom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-dotcom/) ## More by Tom Paulin > [Hitler bombed London into submission but in fact it created a sense of national solidarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/hitler-bombed-london-into-submission-but-in-fact-it-created-a-sense/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [I'm kind of domestic, untidily so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/i-m-kind-of-domestic-untidily-so/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [In my view the European culture carries a very heavy responsibility for the creation of Israel... it is a product of both British and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/in-my-view-the-european-culture-carries-a-very-heavy-responsibility/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [Many black people I know are proud of the Irish part of their heritage - an Irish grandparent, say - but they recognise that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/many-black-people-i-know-are-proud-of-the-irish-part-of-their/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [I am not very moved by historical apologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/i-am-not-very-moved-by-historical-apologies/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [Everyone who supports Israel is a Zionist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/everyone-who-supports-israel-is-a-zionist/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [I don't think the British carry a historical consciousness either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/i-don-t-think-the-british-carry-a-historical-consciousness-either/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [I went to a grim Victorian school with classes of 40 or 50 children. It was a very rigid and unimaginative education, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/i-went-to-a-grim-victorian-school-with-classes-of-40-or-50-children/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [Unfortunately, in the north and the south of Ireland, intolerant habits are part of the fabric of emotion, part of the identity crisis which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/unfortunately-in-the-north-and-the-south-of-ireland-intolerant-habits/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [A truly vibrant and creative culture depends on a system of education which is not divided along class and sectarian lines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/a-truly-vibrant-and-creative-culture-depends-on-a-system-of-education/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [I think protest and actions have to be organised against the Israelis and their backers. There needs to be a concerted high profile campaign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/i-think-protest-and-actions-have-to-be-organised-against-the-israelis/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [I do most of the cooking. I'm kind of domestic, untidily so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/i-do-most-of-the-cooking-i-m-kind-of-domestic-untidily-so/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [If you spend your life with academics, when you step outside, you realise there is this huge general readership that is almost impossible to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/if-you-spend-your-life-with-academics-when-you-step-outside-you/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [My parents were Northern Ireland Labour party people. We read the 'Guardian' and the 'New Statesman,' listened to the BBC. The house was full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/my-parents-were-northern-ireland-labour-party-people-we-read-the/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) > [Again and again, I find something eerie in many Irish occasions - the unrelenting whiteness, the emotional tribal attachments, the violent prejudices lurking beneath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/again-and-again-i-find-something-eerie-in-many-irish-occasions-the/) [Tom Paulin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) [Explore all 31 Tom Paulin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/) ## More Believed quotes > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Though my grandmother had picked up modern ideas in America, she still had some conflicting 19th-century Irish notions. She believed that daughters, educated though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-mahoney/though-my-grandmother-had-picked-up-modern-ideas-in-america-she-still/) [Rosemary Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-mahoney/) > [“I didn't know if I believed in 'happily ever after' anymore. I mean, I didn't know what would happen tomorrow, let alone for forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-kate-strohm/i-didn-t-know-if-i-believed-in-happily-ever-after-anymore-i-mean-i/) [Stephanie Kate Strohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-kate-strohm/) > [Alfred Nobel believed that social changes are brought about slowly, and sometimes by indirect means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertha-von-suttner/alfred-nobel-believed-that-social-changes-are-brought-about-slowly/) [Bertha von Suttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertha-von-suttner/) > [Aaron Spelling always had his finger on the pulse of pop culture, he knew what the public wanted to see. He was one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa-milano/aaron-spelling-always-had-his-finger-on-the-pulse-of-pop-culture-he/) [Alyssa Milano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa-milano/) > [I never believed that they was such thing as love at first sight but I think I'm having that feeliing @sarahlovemoody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mishack/i-never-believed-that-they-was-such-thing-as-love-at-first-sight-but/) [Mishack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mishack/) > [“I wish I believed him. He's looking at me like he can see where I begin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-mcnamara/i-wish-i-believed-him-he-s-looking-at-me-like-he-can-see-where-i-begin/) [Amy McNamara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-mcnamara/) > [My life had been defined by the apartheid years. Now we were going into an era of democracy... and I believed that I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athol-fugard/my-life-had-been-defined-by-the-apartheid-years-now-we-were-going/) [Athol Fugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/athol-fugard/) > [On March 12, 2004, acting attorney general James B. Comey and the Justice Department's top leadership reached the brink of resignation over electronic surveillance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-gellman/on-march-12-2004-acting-attorney-general-james-b-comey-and-the/) [Barton Gellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-gellman/) > [No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-statement-should-be-believed-because-it-is-made-by-an-authority/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [I never believed I'd have a six-pack, especially not at 35 years old. I always thought it was a genetic blessing. It's not. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sullivan-stapleton/i-never-believed-i-d-have-a-six-pack-especially-not-at-35-years-old-i/) [Sullivan Stapleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sullivan-stapleton/) > [“For a moment, I believed you.” He ordered me, dryly, recovering his usual poise again. He does not only have a selective hearing, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tionne-rogers/for-a-moment-i-believed-you-he-ordered-me-dryly-recovering-his-usual/) [Tionne Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tionne-rogers/) > [There was a time when idealistic folksingers such as myself believed that Reality TV was a programming vogue that would peak and recede, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolcott/there-was-a-time-when-idealistic-folksingers-such-as-myself-believed/) [James Wolcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolcott/) > [I felt uneasy, but sometimes, like I said before, I believed in Col. North and there was a very solid and very valid reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fawn-hall/i-felt-uneasy-but-sometimes-like-i-said-before-i-believed-in-col/) [Fawn Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fawn-hall/) > [And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salmon-p-chase/and-upon-this-act-sincerely-believed-to-be-an-act-of-justice/) [Salmon P. Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salmon-p-chase/) [Browse all 1,214 Believed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I never believed that Israel had the right to exist at all.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Paulin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/i-never-believed-that-israel-had-the-right-to-exist-at-all/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Believed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/i-never-believed-that-israel-had-the-right-to-exist-at-all/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e9/tom-paulin-20416_believed_i-never-believed-that-israel-had-the-rig_1199308.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e9/tom-paulin-20416_believed_i-never-believed-that-israel-had-the-rig_1199308.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e9/tom-paulin-20416_believed_i-never-believed-that-israel-had-the-rig_1199308.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I never believed that Israel had the right to exist at all.” — Tom Paulin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tom Paulin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-paulin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I never believed that Israel had...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/i-never-believed-that-israel-had-the-right-to-exist-at-all/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-paulin/i-never-believed-that-israel-had-the-right-to-exist-at-all/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```