As the State of Israel marks the 19th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, President Rivlin on Tuesday evening 11 Marcheshvan kindled ‘Isaac’s Light’, at a memorial ceremony at the President’s Residence, to mark the event. The event was attended by members of the Rabin family, ministers, members of Knesset, and pupils from the Rabin School in Netivot.

The President said, “For me Rabin’s legacy is one of leadership, transformative leadership, leadership, of standing bravely in the face of difficult decisions. “I will decide, and I will navigate”, he declared and indeed he did navigate, according to his conscience, and unapologetically. He was an unapologetic leader, when as a commander, as a fighter, as a member of Knesset, as a minister, and as a Prime Minister. He knew how to carry responsibility, as Prime Minister, during the success of the operation in Entebbe, and during the failed attempt to free kidnapped soldier Nachshon Wachsman. With Rabin, neither the failures nor the successes were fatherless.

“On the side of his commitment to peace, Rabin, did not wait idly for the Israel ‘after peace’. He did not wait for a ‘peace’ that would solve all problems once and for all. Instead, he was brave enough to tackle Israel’s problems in the here and now. He did not neglect to reflect inwards, to Israeli society. For me Rabin, yes, specifically him, he is the father of the call that went up three years ago, also from Rabin Square, to change the agenda of the State of Israel, and to turn the attention inwards. Alongside peace and security, and even ahead of them, he insisted on education, health and welfare, and upon all the changes he instituted in his second government, under the title, “Changing Priorities.”

Dalia Rabin, Yitzhak Rabin’s daughter, also spoke. She said, “This nineteenth year, just as each of the past years, we come here to light the memorial candle. Year after year, we come to remember with words, pictures, and songs. All of us, like every year, return and are shaken by the memory of that dark night, and we speak from the heart, all of us. And we hear the words of hope and pain, yes, always also hope.

“Your honor, Mr. President, you, this year, as a personal friend, you are hosting us for the first time and I feel different. You entered your position after years of work, your banner held high and your agenda clear.

“I always heard from you warm words of memories you shared with my father. It is true you did not come from the same backgrounds, and we do not share the same political views, but we have always been members of the same sect, for whom the rules of democracy are sacred, and from which we may not deviate under any circumstances.”

She turned to the President and said, “So nineteen years ago, many tears were spilled, in a place that blood was spilled, and the youth lit candles in the hope of lighting the darkness that befell us. As a people that seeks peace, as a state, etched in the raising of Jewish values, we continue to light the candle here, though it seems that is not enough to overcome the winds that have battered us recently. We need a torch bearer – please Mr. President, take this torch and go with it as you have already started to do, and may your path be successful. We need this great light.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)