Peres at ceremony
Photo: Dudi Vaaknin
Peres: Head shot, goal alive
Twelve years after standing on the same stage with Yitzhak Rabin, singing 'A Song for Peace' and climbing down the same stairs the prime minister was shot on, president recalls that dreadful evening
Twelve years after standing with Yitzhak Rabin on the same stage, singing 'A Song for Peace' and climbing down the same stairs the former prime minister was shot on, President Shimon Peres recalled that dreadful evening.
"I stood next to Yitzhak. His face was glowing at the sight of this demonstration of this shaking and so spontaneous solidarity… The despicable crow, this vile person, was standing all along armed with a charged gun, calmly waiting at the foot of the stairs. He shot at Yitzhak's back, but he also shot the nation's heart. Neither the people nor history will forgive this despised person.
"I remember that night. It began as an exciting beam of light. It opened with a rally filled with people at the Malchei Israel Square. The stage we stood on was flooded with a huge wave of hope, which strongly flowed from the giant and excited crowd, toward the stage," Peres said Tuesday evening at a ceremony at the President's Residence which launched the events marking the murder's 12th anniversary.
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"I had never seen such a glow on Yitzhak's face. We sang together with tens of thousands of people who danced to the song for peace. It appeared as if the entire nation was standing on its feet to express its faith in us, its loyal messengers, in order to realize the yearning of generations, past generations and generations to come," Peres said.
"Twelve years have passed since that disaster, difficulties have accumulated, the road has become longer, but it was made clear that there is no other option but to overcome the difficulties and continue to march on the road he set. There is no other way.
"One candle alone can break through the dark, and this is the eternal candle for Yitzhak. We shall continue moving forward, loyal to this light, and no internal or external obstacle will have the power to stop us. The head was shot, the goal is alive. The leader was murdered, the heritage remains."
The president, who served as deputy prime minister and foreign minister at the time of the murder, spoke about his feeling immediately after the assassination.
"I suddenly felt alone in the face of a reality which seemed to be collapsing, a world crying out in pain and a need to immediately shake off the shock. Even without the leading partner, the State must not lose its sanity. We must maintain the way, Yitzhak's way, so as not to lose it. This was his last will.
"Today, 12 years later," Peres said, "The path of his road reappears. The road of peace has not disappeared."
