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Former
Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin was assassinated
on What would
By Debbie Berman
Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated on
To mark seven years since Rabin's assassination, [the
Israeli newspaper] Ma’ariv asked six leading Israeli
political figures to describe what they thought the nation would look like if
Rabin were still alive today and contributing to Israeli society.
MK Dalia Rabin Pelossof, Rabin's daughter "If my father were still alive there would be no need to
even ask the question; Pelossof
recommends looking at her father's track record and his methods for dealing with
security, economic and social problems. She says that her father's main goal
when he was prime minister was to improve the quality of life in
Despite Rabin's many efforts toward achieving peace,
Pelossof says, he never stopped investing in Israeli
society, to "turn us into better people." Dr. Meir Pail, military
historian "If Yitzhak Rabin were alive, it is possible that there
would be real peace between the State of Israel and an independent Palestinian
state." According to Pail, Rabin would have continued to go
ahead with the Regarding settlements, Pail thinks Rabin would have
included some in Prof. Yuli Tamir, Tel Aviv Univ., former Absorption Minister
"Yitzhak Rabin would have continued the process he
initiated, proceeding step by step towards an arrangement with the
Palestinians." Prof. Tamir believes that if
Rabin were alive he would have redirected funding used for the development of
settlements to support education and other social needs instead. Tamir says it is probable that if investments into these
areas had been made, today's society in
Shulamit Aloni, former Meretz chairperson "I have no doubt, if Yitzhak Rabin were alive, we would have peace." Shulamit
Aloni is certain that if Rabin were still alive there
would be peace and a thriving economy in both
According to Aloni, the entire
region would be more prosperous and ties would be strengthened with countries
like MK Benny Elon, Moledet "If Rabin were still living with us, he would be at the
end of an unprecedented confrontation with Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin for leading him to
Elon's
vision of Yitzhak Rabin if he were alive today is one of a grandfather, retired
from politics, who deeply regretted his past decisions and had come to see that
the Oslo agreement was a tragic mistake. Having suffered a defeat at the polls,
Rabin would eventually retire from politics, having seen that the economic
prosperity and new Maj.-Gen. (res.) Uzi Dayan,
National Security Council "Yitzhak Rabin would have... drawn the final borders of
the State of Israel." Dayan thinks
that Israelis should learn the important lesson of taking a clear stand from
Rabin's ability to reach decisions. Dayan says that
Rabin never tried to ignore or deny problems, even when the bottom line was
difficult to contend with. Dayan sees an urgent need
to choose a clear diplomatic strategy regarding the Palestinians and produce a
definite map outlining permanent Israeli borders. This decision needs to be
taken, and can only be reached through communication and dialogue, Dayan says. LINK TO THE http://www.rabin.org/site/en/homepage.asp WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE SHALOM ACHSHAV [PEACE NOW]
DEMONSTRATION IN TEL AVIV AT WHICH RABIN WAS ASSASSINATED, AND HEAR AN EXCERPT
FROM RABIN’S LAST SPEECH. http://www.rabin.org/site/en/rabin.asp?pi=7 LINK TO RABIN’S BIOGRAPHY AND KEY SPEECHES (ENGLISH): http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH00ga0
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