I LL
PRIME MINISTER
STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER THE HON P J KEATING MP
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THURSDAY 23 NOVEMBER 1995
MOTION OF CONDOLENCE PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN
I move: That fhis House records Its deep sadness at the assassination on
4 November 1995 of Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel;
expresses its profound sympathy to Mrs Leah Rabin and her
family and to the people of Israel in their bereavement; further
expresses its hope that all the parties to the Middle East peace
process will continue to follow the path of peace and reconciliation
along which Mr Rabin had set out, and requests that this motion
be conveyed by the Speaker on behalf of the House to the
Government of Israel.
Like all Australians, I was horrified to learn of the assassination of
Yitzhak Rabin. Few people in international public life are called on to
make decisions of such weight and consequence as those he had to
make. And few have done so with such courage and clear-eyed vision.
Yitzhak Rabin was a remarkable individual. His life was dominated by
his absolute commitment to the state of Israel and its people. From his
birth In Jerusalem in 1922, he was at or near the centre of most of the
events which created and shaped his country. His life was devoted first
to the foundation of Israel, then to ensuring Its survival.
For many years, Mr Rabin expressed this commitment through his
distinguished career as a soldier. He fought in the 1948 war of
independence, then served for more than twenty years as a member of
the Israeli Defence Force, His military career culminated in his
appointment as Chief of Staff of the I DF and its commander during the
Six Day War. ftAL v z157 2 > 4 No. 0
TEL
After five years as Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Mr Rabin
returned to Israel in 1973 to enter politics.
Just as his military career was driven by his unswerving commitment to
Israel's security, so was his life as a political leader.
But although that deep commitment never changed, its form did and
quite profoundly.
During his second term as Prime Minister after 1992, Mr Rabin came to
the view cautiously, almost reluctantly, but irresistibly that the cause
to which he had committed his life Israel's survival and security was
now served best by a sustained effort to negotiate a settlement with the
Palestinians.
This did not represent any change in his fundamental beliefs. But he
had the imagination and courage to recognise that military superiority
alone coulo1 not deliver lasting security for Israel. And he understood that
a change of approach of parallel importance was taking place among
the Palestinian leadership as well.
This represented a fundamental shift in policy for Israel, and many
Israelis were unsettled by it. It was possibly only Rabin, with his
unassailable reputation as a defender of Israel's security, who could
have carried most of the country with him in following this new path.
The breakthrough came with the signature on 13. September 1993 of the
Israel i-Palestinian Declaration of Principles. in that document, for the
first time ever, Israel and the Palestinians recognised each other as part
of the same neighbourhood and accepted the need to deal with each
other as neighbours. That historic recognition was symbolised when Mr
Rabin shook the hand of PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat at the White
House in September 1993.
That handshake was the beginning, not the end, of a process. And
despite the intense political pressure he came under pressure which
went well beyond the normal and acceptable bounds of political debate
Mr Rabin remained determined to keep the peace process going.
Under his leadership, the peace treaty with Jordan was signed in
October 1994 and then the Interim Agreement With the Palestinians, just
two months before his death.
The worth and substance of Mr Rabin's achievements not just for Israel
but for the Middle East and the world were recognised when he was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, together with Mr Shimon
Peres and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. T. E2L: 2 . Nov. 95 23 : 4 No Cui8 F,' CL
The great shock of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination was not so much that
it happened, because violence in the politics of the Middle East is
tragically common. It was that he was killed by another Israeli.
Because at the core of Israel's existence has always been Its role as a
sanctuary for the Jewish people.
His assassin has done more than rob us all of the life and potential of
Yitzhak Rabin. He has cheated the Jewish people of the security of the
beliefs to which so many Israelis had dedicated themselves. That Israel
was a place where, above all else, human rights and human happiness
were the foundation of the society.
Some good may come of his death if, as many of the country's political
leaders and public figures have urged, it causes Israelis to reflect on the
ways the political debate was abused and misused.
And much good will come of it if it reinforces the commitment of Israelis
and their neighbours to press ahead on the difficult but unavoidable path
he had set.
From my discussion with Prime Minister Peres, I know that he and the
Israeli government are deeply committed to this task. As he told the
Knesset yesterday:
' Our main objective will be to arrive, if possible by the end of this
century, at a comprehensive peace In the Middle East. To create
a Middle Fast without violence, without bloodshed, without
terrorism, without wars, and without the factors which led to all of
these poverty, ignorance, backwardness and prejudice.'
The best way Australia can honour Mr Rabin Is to continue to give our
full support to the peace process. We shall continue to support the right
of Israel to exist in security and safety, at peace with its Arab neighbours
in the context of a comprehensive regional settlement. We shall also
continue to help in whatever practical ways are possible, including
through our participation in the Sinai peacekeeping force and United
Nations peacekeeping operations and through our practical work on
regional security and on water resources as part of the peace process.
When I met Prime Minister Peres after the funeral, he told me that in the
fifty years he had known Mr Rabin, he had never seen him as happy as
he was on the night he was killed. He was buoyed by the support of the
vast crowd of 100,000 which had turned out to rally for the cause of
peace. For the first time in his life, he had sung in public.
IL~ L: 22. Nov. 95 23: 48 No. 018 P. 04/ 04
Yitzhak Rabin's life was a life that mattered. He changed, fundamentally
and for the better, the society which he led and the region of which Israel
is part.
But it is important to remember, too, that his murder was not just a
political event. It was also human tragedy for the family of Mr Rabin and
those who loved him. No one who saw his grand-daughter deliver that
eloquent eulogy at his funeral could fail to be moved by this human
dimension. That is why, Mr Speaker, I am sure that I speak for all the Members of
this House when I offer our deepest condolences to Mrs Leah Rabin and
the other members of Mr Rabin's family.
I commend this motion to the House.