Rabin's granddaughter brings family dynamic to TV

Israeli show portrays the life of a prime minister and his wife

By Jessica Steinberg 31 January 2012, 3:02 pm 0 Edit

Jessica Steinberg covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center.

Noa Rothman (photo credit: Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Noa Rothman, nee Ben Artzi-Pelossoff, granddaughter of the late Yitzhak Rabin, came to fame early. She was just 18 when she delivered a tearful eulogy at her grandfather’s funeral, following his assassination at a November 1995 peace rally.

Now Rothman, an attorney, is drawing on her family experiences as the co-writer of “The Prime Minister’s Children,” currently filming its second season on Israeli cable channel HOT.

The series deals with a fictional Israeli prime minister and the lives of his wife, two children and staff.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Rothman commented that the show is not specifically about the Rabin family or her life, but “it does have a lot to do with the mileage that I have from different things that happened to me.”

Rothman, who was close to her both her grandparents, first appeared on the national stage with a eulogy to her grandfather — the country’s leader, but a personal model for her as well.

“You will forgive me, for I do not want to talk about peace,” she said then. “I want to talk about my grandfather. One always wakes up from a nightmare. But since yesterday, I have only awakened to a nightmare — the nightmare of life without you, and this I cannot bear.”

She went on to serve in the IDF, working in the army newspaper unit, and wrote a book during that time, “In the Name of Sorrow and Hope.”

As she told The New York Times, “you write yourself best.”