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Eulogy for the Late Prime Minister and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin by U.S. President Bill Clinton
Mt. Herzl, Jerusalem
6 November 1995 Yitzhak Rabin lived the history of Israel. Throughout every trial and triumph, the struggle for independence, the wars for survival, the pursuit of peace and all he served on the front lines, this son of David and of Solomon, took up arms to defend Israel's freedom and lay down his life to secure Israel's future. He was a man completely without pretenses, all of his friends knew. I read that in 1949 after the war of independence, David ben Gurion sent him to represent Israel at the armistice talks at Rhoads and he had never before worn a neck tie, and did not know how to tie the knot. So, the problem was solved by a friend who tied it for him before he left and showed him how to preserve the knot, simply by loosening the tie and pulling it over his head. Well, the last time we were together, not two weeks ago, he showed up for a black tie event, on time, but without the black tie. And so he borrowed a tie and I was privileged to straighten it for him. It is a moment I will cherish as long as I live.
To him, ceremonies and words were less important than actions and deeds. Six weeks ago, as the King and President Mubarak will remember, we were at the White House for signing the Israel-Palestinian agreement and a lot of people spoke. I spoke, the King spoke, Chairman Arafat spoke, President Mubarak spoke, our foreign ministers all spoke, and finally Prime Minister Rabin got up to speak and he said, "First, the good news - I am the last speaker." But he also understood the power of words and symbolism. "Take a look at the stage," he said in Washington. "The King of Jordan, the president of Egypt, Chairman Arafat, and us, the prime minister and foreign minister of Israel on one platform. Please, take a good hard look. The sight you see before you was impossible, was unthinkable, just three years ago. Only poets dreamt of it and to our great pain, soldier and civilian went to their deaths to make this moment possible." Those were his words. Today, my fellow citizens of the world, I ask all of you to take a good, hard look at this picture. Look at the leaders from all over the Middle East and around the world who have journeyed here today for Yitzhak Rabin, and for peace. Though we no longer hear his deep and booming voice, it is he who has brought us together again here, in word and deed, for peace.
Now, it falls to all of us who love peace and all of us who loved him, to carry on the struggle to which he gave life and for which he gave his life. He cleared the path and his spirit continues to light the way. His spirit lives on in the growing peace between Israel and her neighbors. It lives in the eyes of the children, the Jewish and the Arab children who are leaving behind a past of fear for a future of hope. It lives on in the promise of true security. So, let me say to the people of Israel, even in your hour of darkness, his spirit lives on and so you must not lose your spirit. Look at what you have accomplished, making a once barren desert bloom, building a thriving democracy in a hostile terrain, winning battles and wars and now winning the peace, which is the only enduring victory.
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1995/11/Rabin+Eulogy-+President+Clinton.htm?DisplayMode=print
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