by Noam Dvir
Protesters use plastic "vuvuzela" horns to disrupt speech by Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi at memorial ceremony for slain PM in Tel Aviv
Organizers say 80,000 people attended a unity rally marking the 23rd
anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, in Tel Aviv,
Saturday
Photo: Gideon Markowicz
What was touted as a moderate political
rally in honor of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and against division
and incitement quickly turned into a left-wing demonstration on
Saturday.
Protesters gathered in the front rows at
Tel Aviv's Rabin Square and used plastic "vuvuzela" horns to disrupt a
speech by Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud). Others
carried signs accusing him of incitement.
In his remarks, Hanegbi said that "On that
night [when Rabin was assassinated], I felt that if I could have, I
would have jumped between the killer and his victim and taken the bullet
instead of the prime minister.
"One can and should argue about the path,"
he said. "Disagreement and criticism are the strength of a free society.
But the incitement and violence must be totally rejected. If we want to
survive, if we are unwilling to give the despicable killers a victory,
we have only one path before us: to prefer what unites us over what
divides us."
Education Minister and Habayit Hayehudi party head Naftali Bennett took to Twitter to condemn the crowd's treatment of Hanegbi.
"This was a shameful leftist demonstration.
It was not the Right that murdered [late Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin
but Yigal Amir. I am sick of the annual baseless accusations from the
Left. People on the Right do not need to come to a rally aimed at
condemning the Right."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also criticized the attack on Hanegbi.
"It is unfortunate that they have turned
the rally into a political convention. Those who exalt the freedom of
speech are trying to silence all those who do not agree with them."
Asked whether he regretted attending the rally, Hanegbi replied that he was glad he had delivered his remarks.
The first speaker at the event was Zionist
Union faction leader Avi Gabbay, who said, "In the years that have
passed since the murder, a generation was born and grew that did not get
to know the Israel of Yitzhak Rabin. You did not get to know the prime
minister who cared about our lives. You did not get to know the prime
minister who put security before everything else but bravely strove for
peace.
He said, "I see our young soldiers lying on
the batteries across from [the] Gaza [Strip]. I see the pain of the
parents running anxiously to the security room. They already understand
there is a political battle in the cabinet for votes. They know Rabin
chose peace and fought Hamas. Netanyahu gave up on peace and gave in to
Hamas!" He said, "Under Rabin, they never would have closed the
emergency room in Kiryat Shmona." Calling on the crowd to raise their
heads and not live in fear, Gabbay said, "We can win if we follow
Rabin's path."
Photo:Gideon MarkowiczProtesters use vuvuzelas to interrupt a speech by Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi at Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, Saturday
Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid also drew
boos from the crowd during his speech, in which he said, "The murder
did not bring us closer. The incitement has gone back to being a tool.
We are run by paranoia. All of the claims are black and white: us and
them, good and bad. Hatred and fear and violence are political tools. …
Rabin's murder was not just a murder, it was also a threat - the threat
of the next murder. When the prime minister was murdered, it became an
option. It is a gun lying on the table. The gun is here again."
Lapid, a political centrist, said, "It is
actually because I am not on the Left, because I have disagreements with
[the Left], that I feel obligated to warn that when the government says
that anyone who thinks differently from it is a traitor and aiding the
enemy, it takes us down a dangerous path and that must end.
"There are extremes on the Right; there are
extremes on the Left. We have an obligation to stand against them. But
not everyone who thinks differently is radical and an existential
threat. Not everyone who thinks differently is an enemy. It is not the
entire Right that murdered Rabin. It is not the Left that is responsible
for the attacks and the terrorism."
Opposition Leader and Zionist Union MK Tzipi Livni and Meretz party head Tamar Zandberg also spoke at the protest.
Under the headline "The moderate majority
stands up to division and incitement at the [Rabin] Square," rally
organizers Darkenu and the National Union of Israeli Students said some
80,000 people took part in the rally, a questionable claim given that
the square was not packed during the event and nearby streets were
empty.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/11/04/right-decries-shameful-leftist-demonstration-at-memorial-for-slain-pm-rabin/
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