Rabin's Death: A Senseless Tragedy

A moral soldier and practical man, Yitzhak Rabin will be remembered as a fighter for peace who died for his efforts. His platform of Israeli reconciliation with its Palestinian neighbors led both to his election and his assassination. Rabin was the leader of a noble cause who attacked the most complex matters of international diplomacy with a bold vision and a determined character. We are sorry to have lost this fine man.

Yesterday's assassination of the Israeli prime minister by a right-wing, anti-Palestinian Jew was a tragic and sorrowful act. In an age where Jews and Palestinians, Bosnians and Serbs, and British and Irish have all made serious attempts to reconcile their differences to create peace, such a senseless deed comes as a shock and a travesty.

Rabin had always been a dedicated servant of the Israeli state. As a soldier, he first gained experience and fame during Israel's fight for independence in the 1940s; he later became the heroic leader of Israel's military successes against its hostile neighbors in the wake of the Six-Day War in 1967. But as a politician, Rabin became a staunch advocate of peace with the Palestinian people, eschewing violent conflict.

The motive of the alleged assassin is generally agreed to have been disruption of the continuing peace process in Israel. In removing the man who solidified the negotiations with calm resolve, that process has undoubtedly been set back somewhat. But the minds of the vast majority of Israeli Jews who support the peace process cannot have changed; in fact, this tragedy will likely convince more Jews of the necessity of non-violent compromise.

Had the alleged assassin been a Palestinian national, the peace process might have suffered more dire consequences. But Rabin--not just a Jew, but the first native-born prime minister of Israel--was shot by one of his own people. Though the prospects for peace have not been hurt as much, the killing of Rabin by a Jew will have lasting consequences.

Throughout the ages, Jews have had to withstand persecution as a small minority population. Finally, with a strong state of Israel, Jews could claim some degree of security. Yesterday's killing shattered that security; it has placed in stark relief the erosion of the traditional solidarity of Jewish peoples.

We would like to think that we have reached a time when political assassinations have been supplanted by less rash means of resolving conflicts. Perhaps we might say, after witnessing the killings of Luis Donaldo Colosio and Yitzhak Rabin, that such incidents occur only in more volatile areas of the world than our own country. But even in the United States, where our own citizens also turned to murder for political ends in Oklahoma City, we are not immune. The anger we felt at Americans who killed Americans gives us a hint of what Israelis striving for peace feel today.

We hope that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process will move forward despite the loss of one of its great benefactors. Its success will serve as a lasting tribute to Rabin's efforts.