Rabin’s many successors

By now, virtually all Zionist parties have adopted Yitzhak Rabin’s doctrine

Eitan Haber|Published: 10.29.09 , 18:10

Here is the truth and there is no other: From the day the three shots were fired into the back of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israel has deteriorated in almost all areas.

You want facts? Here you go: Economic growth in the mid 1990s, during Rabin’s days, stood at 6% a year. What has it been since then, and now? About 80 kings, presidents, and prime ministers arrived in Israel for official visits back then. How many have arrived since then, and how many are coming these days?

About 200 multinational companies (yes, such as McDonald’s) entered the Israeli market at the time. How many are doing it today? The Israeli prime minister visited states that for dozens of years refused to endorse such visits. Dozens of states recognized Israel and opened embassies here.

Israel, amazingly enough, inaugurated missions in seven Arab states (Tunisia, Morocco, Oman, Jordan, Mauritania, Qatar, and Dubai.) Unemployment was drastically down. The education budget was doubled. New interchanges were paved, the building of the Cross-Israel Highway got underway, and so did the construction of the new Ben-Gurion International Airport. What else could we have asked for?

Nonetheless, some people would say that the despicable murderer, may his memory be cursed, succeeded in his mission. The fact is that the peace process with the Palestinians and with other Arab states is stuck, dying, and on the verge of breathing its last breath.

So, did the murderer succeed? That’s nonsense. What used to be the almost exclusive doctrine of Yitzhak Rabin (in brave partnership with Shimon Peres) has become the anthem of almost everyone else, including Likud. Words like “Palestinian state,” which Rabin hesitated to utter publicly (and in fact never did) have become the repeated mantra of Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni, and now, please welcome him with loud applause, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Missing the good old captain

Just a reminder: This is the same Netanyahu who harshly criticized Rabin at the time. Sharon and Olmert have already publicly declared that they were wrong. Netanyahu will be saying it in the future. We need to show consideration here: It isn’t easy to change a worn-out doctrine that one was presented with since childhood.

In fact, almost all Zionist parties have adopted the fundamentals of the agreement in principle signed in Oslo; each party did it in its own way. Yitzhak Rabin can indeed rest in peace – he has successors.

Some will say that the danger of evacuation from Judea, Samaria, and the Golan Heights is gone – so the despicable murderer needs to be satisfied. So, did he succeed? Bullshit! In his own lifetime he will be seeing a giant evacuation operation that will be made possible only in the wake of his despicable act.

Yitzhak Rabin, in private conversations at least, hinted that he intends to fight for 20-40% of Judea and Samaria territory and maintain a large part of the settlement enterprise. Today, in the face of Obama, Putin and Ahmadinejad, let’s see his successors fighting. Barak fought for 3%. Olmert for about 2-3% of the territory.

Fourteen years have passed. Memories are becoming blurred. Yitzhak Rabin’s figure is distancing. His grand deeds are becoming part of everyday life (for example, the lights installed along the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway.) Meanwhile, his less successful acts, and there were some of those too, are being prominently referred to by his rivals and presented as failures.

Meanwhile, the foolish people who continue to enjoy the false tales of “conspiracy” in relation to the murder babble on, and they join many others fools aboard a ship that travels through a stormy sea.

Aboard this ship, all that is left is to long for the good old captain – Yitzhak Rabin.