War & Peace Quote by Yitzhak Rabin

Rabin’s line cuts through the sentimental fog that often clings to “peace” talk. It refuses the comforting fantasy that reconciliation is a warm group hug between reasonable people who basically agree. Peace, he reminds us, is transactional and frequently humiliating: it’s something you build with those who have harmed you, threatened you, maybe still want you gone. The phrase “very unsavory” is doing double work. It signals moral revulsion and strategic realism at once, acknowledging the disgust many citizens feel while warning them that disgust is not a governing strategy.

The intent is political as much as rhetorical. Rabin is insulating diplomacy from the charge of naivete by admitting its ugliness up front. By naming enemies as “unsavory,” he validates public anger, then pivots: even so, you negotiate. That’s a leader’s move in a democracy where compromise can look like betrayal and where opponents can exploit any handshake as weakness.

The subtext is that peace is not a reward for good behavior; it’s a tool for reducing violence. It also implies a hard boundary between justice and statecraft: you can pursue accountability, mourn losses, even despise the other side, and still accept that your children’s safety may depend on signing papers with people you wouldn’t invite to dinner.

Context matters: Rabin was speaking as an Israeli leader steering the Oslo process in the 1990s, when the idea of recognizing and bargaining with longtime adversaries ignited furious backlash. The quote functions as both justification and warning: the work of peacemaking won’t feel pure, but refusing it carries its own cost.