Netanyahu didn't kill Rabin, but the Left still blames him
The political wounds of that era are still raw and open, as evidenced by last week’s stormy Knesset session. The annual Knesset ritual memorializing Rabin never takes stock of the man himself, the ill-fated Oslo process, or how Rabin manipulated Israeli democracy to win approval of the accords. It’s been twisted into an occasion to vilify an entire sector for the act of a lone gunman who wore the kippah they do.
This year was no exception. Yair Lapid unfairly branded today’s leaders of the Religious Zionist party as the “ideological heirs” of the assassin. It was an absurd attempt to delegitimize a party that won six Knesset seats, considering that Lapid serves in a government whose prime minister wheedled his way to the top with just seven seats.
As is customary, the Knesset session made former prime minister Netanyahu into a whipping boy. Netanyahu was Likud chairman and opposition leader when Rabin was prime minister. Each year, the left raises the same accusations blaming Netanyahu’s fiery, anti-Oslo rhetoric for the climate of incitement that led to Rabin’s death. This year, they also excoriated Bibi for skipping a gravesite memorial for Rabin at Mount Herzl.
This time, Bibi lashed back. When he was prime minister, he would grit his teeth in silence. No longer under coercion to play along, he condemned the hypocrisy of the left. Netanyahu noted the left defines whatever they happen to say as legitimate freedom of speech, but when the right uses similar terminology, the left pillories them as purveyors of vulgarity and hate speech.
Create a free account to keep reading.
