Journalist, Rabin aide Haber remembered as model of unity in polarized times

Eitan Haber, a former journalist and the closest political aide to slain prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, is buried in Tel Aviv.

Haber died Wednesday at the age of 80 after battling a serious illness for three years. He was the official who famously issued a tearful announcement of Rabin’s death by assassination on the night of November 4, 1995.

The funeral, held in accordance with coronavirus restrictions, is attended by a small number of relatives and friends including former prime minister Ehud Barak and former chief rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, as well as the daughter of Haber’s former boss, Dalia Rabin-Pelossof.

“We are saying goodbye to Eitan, a man who left a mark on everyone he happened upon,” said Barak, who served under Rabin. “Those who were worldly and those who were not, families hit by terror and the heartbroken whose loved ones were taken abruptly.”

“A humble man, without sharp elbows, with a calm tone that was never raised,” Barak said, according to the Ynet news site. “In these days of incitement and polarization, we should have adhered to the example of Eitan’s actions.”

Lau also touches on the need for national unity and to take the relationship of Rabin and Haber as an example.

“A few days since the bad news came and we are engrossed in memories,” Lau says.

“Twenty five years have passed [since Rabin’s assassination],” he adds. “We need to learn today, especially at a time when the divisions are deep and the lava is bubbling; we need to learn from this incredible pairing. Despite the division, despite the different education, when there is a goal, the Jewish people and the Land of Israel will find the golden path to eternity.”