Today is the anniversary of the death of Yitzhak Rabin, the former prime minister of Israel who was assassinated in 1995. He should be remembered by all of us, and there are lessons found in his life that we all need to learn.
Born in 1922, he joined the Palmach (the elite commando unit pre-1948 that was the predecessor of the IDF) as a teenager and rose to become its chief of operations in the 1948 War of Independence. He served in the military for 27 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant general and overseeing the Six-Day War in 1967.
After that war, he became the ambassador to the U.S. in 1968; then, in 1874, he was appointed prime minister in after Golda Meir's resignation. As prime minister he oversaw the Raid on Entebbe and also made a Sinai land-for-peace deal known as Sinai II with Egypt. For much of the '80s he was the defense minister, and in 1992 he was reelected as Prime Minister.
In 1994, Rabin signed a peace deal with Jordan, recognized the "Palestinian Authority" as the representative of the Palestinian people, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in the Oslo Accords. The Oslo Accords were the formal recognition of a Palestinian people represented by an authority, and was the significant step towards the two-state solution desired by the UN. In 1995, Rabin was assassinated by a law student who objected to the Oslo Accords.
Yitzhak Rabin was a war hero: a commander who was deeply involved in the military, and part of the success of Israel in multiple wars. Because of his war experiences, he was also a man totally committed to peace.
In the early 1990s, so many of us were hopeful that Rabin had led us to peace. We thought that the Arabs really would embrace peace; that a two-state solution was a realistic possibility; and that our Arab neighbors wanted this as much as we did.
The last 30 years since Rabin's death have shown us that we were naive and wrong.
Many people blame Rabin for the wars of the last 30 years, basing this accusation on the Oslo Accords and his recognition of a Palestinian Authority. By opening the doors to the recognition of this historical fallacy, he set up all the wars since then, they say, including and especially the tragedies of October 7 and the last two years.
On certain level they are right with this accusation. It is true that Rabin gave a legitimacy to terrorists. Terrorists who never had any desire for peace, only for Israel's destruction. Rabin either was ignorant of the "theology" of the Koran, or chose to believe that the Muslims of his time did not embrace the hate found in the Islamic texts.
But Rabin had seen so much suffering and death that he was committed to peace. Yes, he was Pollyannaish in this hope, but he also lived in a time when we were still all hopeful that peace could be achieved.
A friend reminded me of a "teaching" from the film The Godfather: that there is a time for a "peace counselor" and a time for a "war counselor." Rabin was an amazing war counselor, and we should be grateful and always remember what he gave to Israel.
He hoped for and sought peace, but in retrospect he was naive in his hope for a lasting peace through the diplomacy of trading land for peace. In this, we find a teaching of Rabin for not only Diaspora Jews, but for Western Civilization, which is being attacked in all fronts by Islam.
I am a Jew, and this means that I am always hopeful and believe in miracles. We are all Americans, and steeped in a culture that embraces faith in a better tomorrow. But the lesson of Rabin that we find as we review the last 30 years of incessant war, especially the evils of October 7, is that miracles come from God, not the negotiations and machinations of man.
We must always retain the hope of Rabin, a great warrior who yearned for peace. We must choose to stay hopeful and have faith. It is important to recognize that if God could change the heart of Pharaoh, the possibility exists for God to change the hearts of our enemies. It is vital that we remember the teaching in the Torah (Parashat Ki Teitzei, Deut. 21:10-25:19) that the goal of war is never victory, but rather to achieve a lasting peace.
At the same time, it is imperative to remember the Torah teachings about destroying Amalek, not defeating, but destroying. In Rabin's time, Hamas had not yet demonstrated the truly evil nature at the foundation of their existence. Hope existed, no matter how small, and the warrior of Rabin sought it. I have no doubt that if he had recognized the evil roots of what have now become terrorist groups, he would not have signed the Oslo Accords.
In today's times, it is clear that Israel, the Jewish people, and all of Western Civilization are being attacked and that we are in a war for our survival: both militarily in Israel, and worldwide through the constant attacks and perpetuation of anti-Semitic and anti-American behavior by the pro-Palestinian forces throughout the world. From the United States to Australia, and everywhere in between, we are being attacked. Personalities like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens attack us in the media, and politicians like Australian Prime Minister Albanese succumb to and support the terrorists. The city of New York may elect a virulent Jew-hating devout Muslim as their mayor; and there is constant talk in Washington of abandoning Israel. Now is not the time to sing kumbaya as Americans, but for us to confront those who seek our demise. We are not yet at the "time for peace," and we must act accordingly if we are to survive. The attacks are in Israel and on Jews around the world; and now is not the time to be saying "Jews for Palestine" or “American Queers for Gaza.” It is the time to be saying “Am Yisrael Chai” (the people of Israel live) and Make America Great Again.
We must learn from Rabin's mistake: we need to recognize that the world is at war with us, and we need the appropriate "counseling." But, like Rabin, we must always be hopeful, and these conflicting imperatives are, in some ways, the real definition of what it means to be an American Jew.
To be a true American, to be a Jew, and to be a person of faith is to be like Rabin. To be a pragmatic realist while still hoping and believing in the miracle of peace. To be warriors while simultaneously "seeking peace and pursuing it," as we are taught in the Psalms. To emulate King David by knowing when and how to take up arms, when and how to pursue peace, and recognizing when to switch from one path to the other.
Yitzhak Rabin z"l was not King David, but he tried. He was a great warrior, and it is only from our perspective 30 years later that we see his hope for peace was ill-timed. He was a great leader; it was just that his timing was off.
May we soon see the proper timing for peace time counseling and enjoy a true and lasting peace. And may the memory of Yitzhak Rabin be a blessing and a teaching for us all.
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