Madam Speaker,
Rabin Family,
Distinguished Guests,
Heads of the Security Forces,
Commanders and Fighters,
Members of Knesset,
“The certain” – wrote the poet Avraham Shlonsky –
“The certain is the every-day miracle of the gullible.
The maybe is the ashamed expression of the knowledgeable.”
Chief of General Staff of the IDF and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s greatness and uniqueness as a commander and statesman – as we today mark the eleventh anniversary of his horrible murder at the hands of an evil-doer – was his unique ability to integrate the “certain” and the “maybe”: between the solid certainty of his national and security beliefs and the compassionate, sensitive maybe, which never undermined the certain, but always enriched it with the humanity of an attentive heart.
On one occasion, Yitzhak Rabin told of one of the difficult moments during which the torturous “maybe” was bound by the necessary “certain”. These are moments of heavy silences which come after making decisions to take action – when all the others, senior officers or government ministers, get up and leave, the door slams shut and there is only the silence in which the commander, the leader, is left alone.
“In the great tension before the finger pulls the trigger, there is still time to reflect alone: did we have to act? Was there another way? A thousand thoughts in the heart of a man.”
The certain is the every-day miracle of the gullible. The maybe is the ashamed expression of the knowledgeable. And Yitzhak Rabin was knowledgeable. He knew how to make difficult, fateful decisions and he knew their meaning and their price – and he knew not to lie, not to himself and not to others.
He knew how to be a leader.
His “certains” were clear: one was tied to Jerusalem. He determined: “There are no two Jerusalems. There is only one Jerusalem. As far as we are concerned, Jerusalem is not a matter for compromise.”
Another was tied to strengthening the security of the country, an essential condition for every step towards advancing peace in the region. “In my view, on security,” he said, “we will not give up at all.” “Peace without security has no meaning, in my opinion.” And also, “As far as we are concerned, security precedes peace.”
In his speech, here in this house, on December 21, 1992, Yitzhak Rabin said,
“From this podium, I want to appeal to the Palestinians in the territories: we want a solution to the ongoing conflict between us. Do not misunderstand our willingness for peace. For 44 years, you have been trying to ignore reality. See how horrible your situation is. Stop for a moment and think – where did it get you?
Believe us, if you continue to fan the flames of hatred and terror, if you continue to pull the trigger – it is a pity, a pity; your fate will be bad and bitter. Consider well your actions. There is an opportunity. Take advantage of it. We are willing. If you miss it, you will bear the consequences.”
What is a pity, Madam Speaker and Members of Knesset, is that the Palestinian disregard of the reality of their lives still continues today – and the government of the Palestinian Authority continues to fan the flames of hatred and acts of terror, despite the heavy price paid by the Palestinian people, as well as the price we are paying.
In that same speech of December 21, 1992, Prime Minister Rabin said things meant to warn the enlightened world about the danger of Islamic fundamentalism – statements which proved to everyone to be correct on September 11, 2001:
“Our struggle against Islamic and other terror is meant to awaken the world which is in a coma, especially in regard to the danger of Islamic fundamentalism. From here, we call on all nations and peoples to pay attention to the great danger emanating from this extreme Islam. It is the most genuine and serious danger to the safety of the world in the near future.
The danger of death lurks among many people, and as the State of Israel was the first to notice the Iraqi nuclear threat, so today we stand at the forefront of the line of fire vis-à-vis the danger of extreme Islam.”
During the war we were forced into three months ago in the North against Hizbullah – we stood at the forefront of the comprehensive struggle currently taking place between the enlightened democratic world and the dark world of fundamentalist Iran, which is provoking a war which views Western culture as its greatest enemy and which strives to bring about not only our destruction, but the destruction of Western culture as a whole.
The enlightened world has perhaps awoken, but has yet to stand up to thwart the danger from Iran – and we are doing all that we can to make the world take action.
Madam Speaker, Distinguished Knesset,
The murder of Yitzhak Rabin 11 years ago – by one of our own people – deeply wounded Israeli democracy, and opened our eyes to the harsh reality: Israeli society, despite the tremendous accomplishments of the 59 years of its existence – is still a society being formed. Apparently, there are no shortcuts in a society’s process of maturation, which is in great part a society of immigration.
Israeli democracy is a genuine source of pride – and yet it still must face the threats emanating from the ongoing process of merging cultures, sectors, parties and publics, and their varying traditions.
The Memorial Day Honoring Yitzhak Rabin must be a day of national soul-searching – as well as a day of renewed commitment to upholding amongst ourselves the obligation of tolerating the opinions of the other. Without this tolerance, we cannot speak of the existence of true unity between us, unity without which it is doubtful if we can withstand the tests put before us by the reality of the Middle East.
It must be a day of soul-searching – because Israeli democracy is not without its weaknesses. The fact that in the 59th year of the country, the 31st government is serving, is one of the signs of this. The fact that the governments of Israel have tenures of an average of less than two years for nearly 60 years is certainly an anomaly which must be remedied. This leads not only to a confusing exchange of ministers and directors general in government offices, which undermines the offices’ work, and thwarts any possibility of long-term planning. The changing of governments naturally involves political bargaining, which arouses public disgust, gives politics a bad reputation in Israel, increases the lack of trust in the ruling systems – thus further undermining Israeli democracy.
It is true that Israeli democracy has its weaknesses – but a murderer’s bullets will not cure this weakness. We have an urgent need to make changes in the Israeli system of government – but this must be done not by dictate, but on the basis of broad national agreement. Just as only by broad national agreement can Israel ratify a constitution which is so missing at this time.
We need a constitution, among other things, to ensure that the changes made in the system of governance will not undermine the democratic and moral basis of the regime in the State of Israel, and preserve its Jewish and democratic nature.
Madam Speaker, Members of Knesset,
Soul-searching is obligatory also in light of the horrifying results of the poll which determined that one in three Israelis support the granting of clemency to the wicked murderer. A poll clearly has no practical meaning. According to law, the murderer of the Prime Minister cannot ever go free – and it is impossible to grant him clemency, not now and not in the future.
However, the poll has a broader educational and social meaning. It bears witness to a most severe educational failure, and to the injury to what should have been the natural vaccination of a healthy Israeli society. The natural antibodies which should have ensured that the Prime Minister’s murderer would forever be left outside of Israeli society have apparently been severely weakened. This failure among a section of the religious public is especially worrying. 14% of this public, and I emphasize – this is taken from the results of a public opinion poll alone – who fast during the fast of Gedalyahu, and mourns the wicked political murder of Gedalyahu Son of Achikam 2,500 years ago, support immediate clemency for the Prime Minister’s murderer. An additional 50% support granting clemency in the future, 25 years from now.
It is because of the immense appreciation I have for members of the religious public in Israel that I call on its leaders not to ignore the results of this poll, which obligates us all to soul-searching.
On the night of November 4, 1995, we vowed to ourselves, as a society, not to forgive and not to forget, and never to allow a repetition of this murder. This vow obligates us to act more intensely today to strengthen Israeli democracy, first and foremost through education – but also through legislation. We owe this to ourselves – and we owe it to the memory of Yitzhak Rabin.
May his memory be blessed.