(VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

In his address at the annual memorial ceremony for late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin held on Mount Herzl, the Prime Minister made a speech in which he mentioned Rabin’s legacy and the consensus on the subject. His vision was created more than two decades after his murder.

The following are excerpts from the speech:

“The shocking murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a commander and a leader with many rights, has put us to the test of the fundamental danger of self-destruction and the breakdown of the threads of democracy. From the depths of national memory there were acts of violence – one hand in the other – that left a deep wound in the psyche of the nation. The assassination of Rabin requires condemnation of violence wherever it is – and even more so of violence aimed at public leaders.”

“Freedom of debate and freedom of expression must be preserved – woe to us if it is not, but violence, never for we are absolutely committed to the basic democratic rule: national decisions are made at the ballot box, and only these are agreed principles for delineating the public debate. After Rabin’s assassination, I want to focus not on delineating the debate, but on the essence of the debate – the fundamental debate about our political future.”

“In my opinion, and in complete contradiction to the prevailing opinion, today there is broad agreement on the matter, not complete, not absolute, but very broad, and it cannot be absolute because Israel is not a totalitarian regime in which everyone should agree on everything. I quoted Cicero about the Jews, about our argumentative character, which he had stood for two millennia ago, but within the debate there is broad national consensus, in which the majority agrees with most things.e of the terror attack in Manhattan, and expressed my condolences, and said that he is inspired by the way we confront the waves of terrorism.

“Yitzhak Rabin said the same thing: He warned against the increased use of Palestinian territories to launch terror attacks against us, and therefore, in his speech to the Knesset, a month before the assassination, Rabin insisted on the need to hold in our hands parts of the homeland that at the same time serve as strategic security assets, never to return to the pre- June 4, 1967 boundaries. The Palestinians, he said, would be able to lead independent lives in their own “entity” – and in his formulation, he said: “an entity that is less than a state.

“I do not think that Rabin has assumed that the ultimate responsibility for security and practical responsibility for security will remain in our hands in every situation – in the entire territory west of the Jordan River. This is my position, and that is the position of most Israeli citizens.

“The wonderful quote we heard about security, the importance of security, the superiority of security – this is not a statement from the outside, but expresses the essence of the responsibility of every government for its citizens … Our responsibility to manage security, as the capital of Israel, under Israeli sovereignty, and this is my position, and this is the position of most of the citizens of Israel.

“He emphasized that Jerusalem would include Maale Adumim to the east and Givat Ze’ev to the north, and that we would establish land contiguity and the Gush Etzion bloc, which will be added as a result of changes in the area.

“Rabin has consistently stated that the eastern security border of the State of Israel will be placed in the Jordan Valley. The Jordan Valley he said in its broad sense, and this is my position, and this is the position of most of the citizens of Israel.

“This was before the rise of radical Islam and the flood that is raging in the Middle East, with countries collapsing one after the other, and there is no more minimal legend than this statement about our security belt from the east … Rabin reiterated his commitment not to uproot any settlement from the framework of the interim agreement. To uproot people from their homes, not Jews, and not Arabs, and I believe that this is not only my position, but the position of most Israeli citizens.

“Ten years after Rabin’s death, we uprooted settlements in Gush Katif, and what we got in return for tunnels and missiles, we had to go out to three operations to establish security in the Gaza vicinity, and we are dealing with this challenge as we saw this week. Those wishing to harm us, we will harm them. The reason the Palestinians are unwilling to reach an agreement is not because of these positions, because with creativity, it is possible to reach an agreement. The reason lies in one basic thing: they have not yet accepted the right of existence of the State of Israel.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)