We Remember Rabin
Zionist youth movements in NSW – Habonim Dror, Bnei Akiva, Hineni, Netzer and Betar come together at Maroubra Synagogue in commemoration of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin.
It was 22 years ago, on 4th November, 1995 that Rabin was assassinated. He was a man who spoke of peace and social justice. Rabin’s assassination highlighted the need to bridge the gap between ideologies, to find a common thread to unite. To mark this milestone the youth movements met to remember the man who was and to discuss the future; to debate what it means to be Jewish and a Zionist today.
It was a poignant evening, initiated by the Jewish Agency Shlichim filled with inspiration and passion, with the intention to shape Judaism and Zionism through the values that Rabin represented.
“As years pass the memory fades and so we believe it is crucial to keep engaging the youth of today in the life story of Yitzhak Rabin. If we continue his legacy. If we pursue his vision. If we revive his belief in peace, then his life will continue. Rabin’s message is as relevant today as it was 22 years ago. The youth movements have come together with a message of unity, of community, of nurturing pluralism of opinions and beliefs in democratic and only democratic ways.” Julia Meltzer, 19, Habonim Dror.
Rabin’s words and actions did and continue to inspire youth in Israel and all around the world. His last speech was as pertinent then as it is today:-
“And you here, by coming to this rally, along with the many who did not make it here, prove that the people truly want peace and oppose violence. Violence is undermining the very foundations of Israeli democracy. It must be condemned, denounced, and isolated. This is not the way of the State of Israel.” The Last Speech. Address by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at a Peace Rally. Kings of Israel Square, Tel Aviv. November 4, 1995
Your article states:
“Rabin’s assassination highlighted the need to bridge the gap between ideologies, to find a common thread to unite.”
That common thread was contained in Rabin’s speech he delivered to the Knesset on October 5, 1995 – just days before his assassination – when presenting the 300 page “Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip”. That speech identified the following signposts that Mr Rabin’s historic path and vision sought to take:
1. First and foremost, the State of Israel would be a Jewish State, at least 80% of whose citizens would be Jews.
2. The State of Israel would include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate; and alongside it a Palestinian entity which would be home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
3. The Palestinian entity would be less than a state and would independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.
4. The borders of the State of Israel would be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. Israel would not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.
The main changes Mr Rabin envisaged as a result were:
a) Jerusalem would be united and would include both Maale Adumim and Givat Zeev as the capital of Israel under Israeli sovereignty;
b) The security border of Israel would be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term;
c) Gush Etzion, Efrat, Beitar and other communities in the area east of what was the “Green Line” prior to the Six Day War would be included in the State of Israel;
d) Blocs of settlements would be established in Judea and Samaria like the one in Gush Katif;
e) No single settlement would be uprooted in the framework of the Interim Agreement, nor building hindered for natural growth;
f) The responsibility for the external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and the Gaza Strip maritime zone, would remain in Israeli hands; and
g) Murderers of Jews, or those who had wounded others seriously, would not be released