Rivlin: Generations post-Rabin forgetting implications of his assassination

Speaking at the state ceremony marking 23 years since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, President Reuven Rivlin argues that younger generations are forgetting the implications of the former prime minister’s murder.

“The truth is, something is not working. We are witness to the erosion of the centrality of murder and its implications for the Israeli public,” he says.

“Everyone can remember Yitzhak Rabin as a man and a leader in his own way, but we must agree that we want to remember together the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,” he explains, asserting that the murder of a prime minister must be perceived as something beyond politics.

The president says that Israelis have thus far been unable to grasp this fact and that in turn, “the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin [has divided] us into tribes and camps.”

“I am afraid that ceremonies and speeches will not help, as long as we find it difficult to agree on what we are trying to remember.”