October 30, 2015

Twenty years after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, with Israelis and Palestinians still mired in the same conflict, hurling the same accusations against each other, once again suffering violence, I keep re-thinking my experiences with him, wondering how the situation would have been different had Rabin lived on. 

I had a date to meet him on the day that the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinians was announced on August 20, 1993. I expected him to cancel in view of the momentous announcement, but instead found him sitting alone in his office willing to share with me his fears about whether the Israeli team negotiated the deal effectively. Still, despite his concerns, he was determined to move forward with the deal, because he saw it as part of his overall strategy for securing Israel’s position in the region. 

Long before most others, Rabin understood the threat from an Iran with nuclear weapons capability seeking hegemony over the Middle East. Because of the relationship between Israel and Iran before the Shah was deposed in 1979, Rabin whose first term as prime minister, 1974-77,  came while the Shah still ruled Iran, knew that the Shah asked for Israel’s help in developing a nuclear weapon and Israel refused.

I first heard Rabin express his concern about Iran with nuclear weapons in 1992 at a meeting in New York with a small group from the American Jewish Congress. He told us there was a window of opportunity of three or four years during which time Israel must try to make peace with the Palestinians. A year later he expanded on his view to me during a private meeting:  “If we have nuclear weapons and Iran threatens us with nuclear weapons, which one of us will blink? We, who care about life or the mullahs who do not care about life?”  

As he explained, to be prepared to defend against the threat from Iran and be secure in the region, Israel first had to have a peaceful relationship with the entities on its borders – Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians. Israel already had a peace agreement with Egypt forged in Camp David by Begin and Sadat. And Rabin had built an ongoing relationship with Jordan’s King Hussein, who had trusted Rabin enough to meet him in secret even while their nations were at war, leading to a peace treaty signed in October 1994.  The third leg of Rabin’s strategy was to resolve Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. Those of us at the Oslo Accords signing ceremony (the “Declaration of Principles”) on the White House lawn on September 13, 1993 saw how reluctant Rabin was to shake the hand of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Yasser Arafat.  Yet, we could not hear Rabin’s words without being moved: “Enough of blood and tears. Enough.” 

As a result of his years as Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, 1968-1972, Rabin became convinced of the importance of Israel’s relationship with America and the role of the American Jewish community as an integral element in that relationship. To implement his strategy of making peace with the Palestinians, he wanted the support of American Jewish organizations, but he was not comfortable relying on the existing American Jewish organizations, particularly AIPAC. During a meeting in his office we discussed establishing a new American Jewish organization to generate American support. With his backing, several American Jewish leaders, myself included, founded the Israel Policy Forum (IPF)

In June 1993, when we both were awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Bar Ilan University in an open-air ceremony, we heard the voices of Israeli protestors denouncing him. What I didn’t realize then was the ominous quality of the protests; how the extremist religious nationalists were being inflamed by their religious authorities to consider Rabin a criminal and that the political leaders on the right not only made no effort to calm things down but actually attacked Rabin’s peace making efforts. Rabin was assassinated on November 4, 1995, at the end of a rally to support the Oslo Accords by Yigal Amir, a radical Orthodox Jew who had been a law student at Bar Ilan University and who opposed Oslo.

I can’t presume to predict how the course of history would be different if Rabin had not been murdered, but I am convinced that his assassination changed the future dramatically. Rabin’s strategic overview called for peace with the Palestinians to link with peace with Egypt and Jordan.   That, in turn, would have strengthened Israel to confront Iran.  Rabin’s years in the Israel military, culminating in his position of Chief of the General Staff, taught him the importance of avoiding fighting on two fronts.

His military experience also earned Rabin the trust of the Israeli public to protect Israel’s security so they were likely follow his leadership. Similarly, his innate sincerity would have had a positive influence on any Palestinian leader. This combination of trust and sincerity coupled with his strategic overview, would have led Israel to a far better place than where it is today. 

Robert K. Lifton has served as President of the American Jewish Congress; Co-Chair of the Middle East Project of the Council On Foreign Relations and Chair and presently a Board member of the Israel Policy Forum.   He is the author of “An Entrepreneurs’ Journey: Stories From A Life In Business And Personal Diplomacy.”