He replied that these subjects were not defined in the inquiry committee’s letter of appointment. I later asked the Honorable Justice Shamgar, who headed the Rabin assassination inquiry committee, why they did not bring up the legal system’s failures and suppression of incitement in their inquiry. He said that this move would not be welcomed by the Council and would be interpreted as a violation of Halacha (Jewish law) and faith in the Land of Israel.Īt the time, his warning sounded detached from reality and I, of course, didn’t heed it as I continued with my regular political activities. He explained to me that if Rabin wanted to work towards territorial compromise in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, he meant what he said. He said to me: “Sheves, Rabin should not be allowed to become Prime Minister” and explained to me that Rabin was an honest man whose mouth said what his heart felt. He warned me about a political move that could lead to Rabin becoming Prime Minister.
It was in 1987, when I served as assistant defense minister in Rabin’s office. To this day, I still remember the visit of one of the leaders of the Yesha Council. There is no lawfulness in a country where a pardon becomes the kosher stamp of approval for murder. What raised eyebrows was the fact that they were pardoned, giving a false feeling to the leaders of Yesha that anything and everything is possible and permitted. In my view, Rabin’s assassination began to take shape following a particularly difficult political, security and legal incident that was carried out by members of the Jewish underground.Īs you may recall, these members were charged with, and convicted of, the murder and attempted murder of hundreds of workers from the territories. The distinction between these two concepts is essential, and sometimes this becomes clearer in retrospect, that a fine line lies between freedom that is enshrined in democracy and freedom that is without limitations and regulation. It is imperative that this is done, so that the day doesn’t come when security forces and the General Security Service (‘Shabak’) don’t scratch their heads and try to figure out how they missed that oncoming snowball, when it was still too small to hurt, and too far to roll.įreedom of Expression or Freedom to Incite Once they are spoken, they can easily turn into a terrible act. It is our duty to shake the indifference that is shown to such statements, because history shows that there is no end to them. This same group could potentially adopt this message today, and even use it as solid ground upon which to make decisions, and which led to a pointless murder in the past.
We understand that a message that was supposedly shouted into thin air, found the attentive ears of a sleepwalking fringe-group. The significance of the words that come out the mouth of a public figure only becomes clearer when we look back. Yet, the reaction to this name-calling is complete indifference and is even outrageously accepted as legitimate. This insulting nickname was directed from a highly publicized, public position towards the person who actually received a mandate to form a legitimate government. Just the other day, during a parliamentary session, the opposition leader once again pointed his barrel at the current prime minister, Naftali Bennett, and called him an “illegitimate prime minister.” Even today, after the formation of the current government, that same well-oiled machine is back in operation, using the same tools from the past. This thunderous tune is being heard once more. In the background of all this, he had the cooperation of yeshiva heads, rabbis and heads of the Judea, Samaria and Gaza (Yesha) Council. In retrospect, it turned out that Netanyahu headed a well-oiled, organized and financed system that brought the legitimate political struggle to the point of violence, incitement and – finally – an act of murder. Today, I understand that I wasn’t knowledgeable enough to internalize, like Rabin was able, the deeper meaning of the words of incitement and rebellion that came out of Netanyahu’s mouth. Channel2 – Yitzhak Rabin CC BY-SA 3.0 Rabin Warned us of What’s Happening TodayĪt the time, when Yitzhak Rabin refused to meet with the then-head of opposition, Bibi Netanyahu, calling him a “gang leader,” I thought that he had gone too far with this name-calling.
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