Yep, its that time of year again, when almost half of Israel (the Left), accuse the other half of Israel (the Right), for killing former PM Yitzhak Rabin. This annual charade, this orchestrated political frenzy lasts about two weeks, due to the usual discrepancy between his Yahrtzeit (death date in the Hebrew calendar) and the day of his murder, Nov. 4th in the secular calendar.
The Left religiously bemoans every year, the loss of the “Peace Process,” and how the “Rabin Legacy” is disappearing. There might be some truth to that. According to a recent opinion poll from the Jewish People Policy Institute, only about 15 percent of Israeli Jews planned to attend memorial events dedicated to Rabin.
But what’s not disappearing so fast, is memory of his quick wit. Who can forget Rabin’s diatribe, “They can spin around and around like propellers...”
Or, Rabin calling suffering Israelis hiding in bomb shelters, “Crybabies,” because they complained about coming under Hezbollah rocket fire in northern Israel, and called on the Israeli government to put an end to the missile attacks.
Rabin regularly belittled Israelis who left the country for greener pastures. He would routinely call Israeli emigrants, “nefolet she nemushot” (the fallout of weaklings).
And who can forget his disgustingly coarse description, of victims of suicide bombings as, “Korbanot L’Shalom” (sacrifices for peace), while the nation bled, and screamed out in pain.
“The Peace Process must go on at all costs,” could have been his slogan.
Name-calling political opponents seems to be something, Rabin and Trump both have in common.
Then, there’s their pursuit of the delusionary “Peace Deal,” between Israelis and Palestinians.
What they don’t have in common is drinking, smoking, and womanizing. Rabin was a chain-smoker, and evidently an alcoholic too. Trump never touched the stuff. But he has touched a few women in his day. Whereas, Rabin seems to have been a faithful husband.
Leah Rabin and her husband certainly were like minded,“Sometimes I think, despite the fact that we are Jewish and the right is Jewish, that it would be easier to find a common language with Palestinians and Arabs,” she told an interviewer once. “Because we [the right and left in Israel] live on two different planets.” In contrast to her rebuke of the Israeli Right, after Rabin’s murder, she said she was moved by the condolences offered by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.
The Talmud, Yoma 22b, will shed some light, R. Huna explained: “Saul sinned once and it brought calamity upon him [he lost his kingship], David sinned twice and it did not bring evil upon him. What was the one sin of Saul? The affair with Agag [not killing the Amalekite king]. What were the two sins of David? The sin against Uriah and that of counting the people to which he was enticed.”
Both of David’s sins were considered personal, and he kept the kingship, while Saul’s one sin was of a national-political nature, and therefor he lost the right to rule.
Similarly, Trump’s name calling is of a personal-attack nature, so too his other indiscretions were personal.
But, with Rabin, the name-calling was meant to delegitimize vast numbers, whole sectors of the Israeli population, so that he could carry out his ill-conceived political policies.
And, let’s not forget the “Rabin Legacy.” After firing on the ship, the Altelana in 1948, Rabin, commanding soldiers on the shore, ordered the fledgling IDF to open-fire on defenseless Irgunists in the water, fleeing the sinking ship, killing many.
Much Jewish blood was on his hands...
While Trump has sworn to protect Americans, beefing-up America’s defense posture and pursuing an “America First” agenda; Rabin helped establish a Palestinian beachhead on the Israeli body politic, a terrorist mini-state in our midst, that has led to thousands of deaths.
So, Trump like King David, has had personal failings, but that didn’t cause them the loss of leadership. With all that could be said against Trump, at least he tries to defend America, and protect Americans, from external enemies.
That couldn’t be said of the “Rabin Legacy.” Rabin’s sins were of a national-political nature, just like King Saul, and so too, like Saul, he fell.
Pity Yitzhak Rabin didn’t put “Israel First.”
Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.
(c) 2018/5779 Pasko
