Netanyahu: Yitzhak Rabin was wrong, but he was not a traitor

Slain prime minister Yitzhak Rabin “was not a traitor,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, as he issued a stinging criticism against dangerous political rhetoric, acknowledging that he himself had failed to speak out against such incitement in the period leading up to Rabin’s assassination in 1995.

He recalled the bitter debate over the 1993 Oslo Accords, approved by Rabin and his government, that set in motion a peace process for a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The debate over Oslo was legitimate, Netanyahu said.

“What was not legitimate was to call Yitzhak Rabin a ‘traitor’ or a ‘murderer.’ Over the years since the murder, I have heard this false claim by fanatics who oppose Oslo,” Netanyahu said.

He admitted that in the past, “I stood to the side, I was silent and did not respond.”

“At times, I even encouraged it,” Netanyahu said.

He had even heard such incitement at Rabin memorials, he said, including by Rabin’s grave, both “explicitly and implicitly.”

“But repeating a lie many times does not make it true.” Here is what I said then, countless times. No, Rabin was not a traitor. He was wrong, but he was not a traitor,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu was speaking at the annual government memorial for Rabin that was held at the Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, where Rabin was buried after he was killed by the Israeli-Jewish assassin Yigal Amir on November 4, 1995.

Rabin’s grandson, Yonatan Ben-Artzi, used his moment at the podium to deliver a political message in which he apparently called on Netanyahu to quit politics over the almost year-long political deadlock that has prevented the formation of a government.

He did not mention Netanyahu by name, but he said that, “the many years you have been in power have caused you to forget what it is like to be a human being.”

Ben-Artzi continued: “Take responsibility for your actions and move aside. Quit your job.”

He added: “Go home and deal with the personal allegations against you. If they are cleared away, then come back.”