Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 7 Nov 1995

Vol. 457 No. 7

Death of Prime Minister of Israel: Expression of Sympathy.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring):

All of us will have been shocked by the tragedy which rocked the peace process in the Middle East this past weekend, which was the brutal assassination of the Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin.

I met Yitzhak Rabin recently on an official visit to the Middle East and I was instantly impressed by him as a man of absolute and unshakeable determination. A life long career in the service of his country combined the arduous tasks of soldier, diplomat and politician. He was almost unique in recent times as a soldier who dedicated his final years to the less tangible but still very considerable risks of peace-making. He knew, as perhaps only a soldier can, the horror of war at first hand and was as resolved as any man I ever met to make a personal contribution to lasting peace. He knew the ups and downs of politics and tasted success and failure in that aspect of his career. He found the process of reconciliation personally difficult, yet did not shirk from the gestures which were necessary to bring a sense of reconciliation about.

If we can take any comfort from the images and pictures which were broadcast from Prime Minister Rabin's funeral yesterday, we can perhaps hope that his death, brutal and tragic as it was, may have copper-fastened the reconciliation he was determined to secure. The poignant image of a blood stained piece of paper with the words of a song of peace written on it will long linger in all our memories and will, we all fervently hope, serve as an inspiration to those who follow in his footsteps.

It will, I know, be the united message of this House in any event that we will do anything we can to help ensure that the process of building a durable peace and a more secure future in the Middle East will not be shaken. On behalf of the Government, I wish to extend our sympathy to the people of Israel on the loss of a great leader and a great peace maker.

Mr. B. Ahern:

I wish to join with the Tánaiste in his expression of sympathy on the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin which was a source of deep shock and regret to all of us in the House. Prime Minister Rabin had a long and distinguished record of political and military service to the state of Israel. He showed great statesmanship in finally making peace with the Palestinians and he recognised that there was no way around the need to fulfil their deepest aspiration — the creation of an independent Palestinian state. However difficult this was for many Israelis and Jews around the world to accept and despite the huge pressures on the peace process from extremes on both sides, Prime Minister Rabin held a steady course and in the end paid for it with his life.

The Middle East process to which Prime Minister Rabin contributed so much has been an inspiration to Ireland. It was Mr. Rabin who said that it was not with one's friends but with one's enemies that one had to make peace. A perceptive and experienced correspondent, Ann Leslie, wrote the following in the Independent this morning “Doves are never wholly to be trusted to make peace, they are likely to be accused of going soft or being deluded by their enemies.” Instead, it was the former tough war leader Rabin who was able to make peace and who could be trusted by most Israelis to do a deal with the Palestinians without damaging vital interests. If Israelis and Palestinians could make peace, as well as whites and blacks in South Africa, it should equally be possible for the Unionist and Nationalist traditions here to reach an agreed political settlement which would be the basis for a lasting peace.

I sincerely hope that the death of Mr. Rabin will not deflect from the Middle East peace process in any way and that, if anything, it will make people more determined to preserve it. It has to be brought home to people who reject peace that terrorism does not pay and is politically suicidal and profoundly counterproductive. I very much doubt if the consequences will be anything other than detrimental to the self interests of the settler community from which the assassin came.

The sympathies of our party go to the family of Mr. Rabin, the state of Israel and the Jewish community in Ireland and their representative, the Ambassador, who is present. Mr. Rabin's name will be remembered with honour.

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): It is my sad duty to express condolences to the Israeli Government and the people on the assassination last Saturday of the Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin. This was a particularly tragic death for a man who tried to bring peace to his people in the Middle East. He nurtured the idea of peace in the Middle East and successfully promoted the idea with his colleagues and, eventually, with the Palestinians and the Arabs.

As Members will know, as a gesture of Ireland's shock at this savage assassination of a man of peace, the Taoiseach yesterday attended the funeral ceremonies for Mr. Rabin in Jerusalem. In attending, the Taoiseach wanted to underline Ireland's commitment to the Middle East peace process and to pledge our continuing support to the Government of Israel and the Palestinian authority for the courageous course of action which they embarked on two years ago with the declaration of principles. This has already borne substantial results, most recently with the signing on 28 September last of the interim agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. This accord represents a landmark achievement in the Middle East peace process. It marks an important phase in the effort towards achieving a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement to the problems which have beset the region for generations.

In the Government's view, this agreement, and the peace treaty signed one year ago between Israel and Jordan, are part of Yitzhak Rabin's legacy. The peace established by these two agreements opens the way for the building throughout the Middle East of networks of regional co-operation and independence. They hold out the promise of a Middle East characterised by political stability and economic prosperity. This Government will continue to play its part, both nationally and as a member of the European Union, in building on Yitzhak Rabin's legacy in the Middle East peace process.

Last Sunday week I met and spoke with Yitzhak Rabin at the Middle East economic conference in Oman. At that conference, he shared a platform with his fellow Nobel prize winners Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres. He was full of hope and confidence and resolute in his pursuit of peace. Things change a great deal in a week. Ar dheis lámh Dé go raibh a anam.

Miss Harney:

I wish to join with the Tánaiste, Deputy Ahern and the Minister, Deputy Noonan, in expressing my sympathy, and that of the Progressive Democrats, to the people of Israel, through their Ambassador who is present and to the Jewish community in Ireland.

The late Yitzhak Rabin was a remarkable man, a world visionary and very courageous. As Shakespeare would have said, he made the transition from cast'ed to cushion. One of the defining moments of our time was the famous handshake between him and Yasser Arafat on the lawn of the White House.

However, there are refreshing things on which we can all look back. It was refreshing to see such an illustrious group of Arab leaders attend his Funeral. It was remarkable that King Hussein made his first visit to Israel to attend the funeral of the Jewish head of Government.

Rabin was a man who fought the military fight until there was a chance of peace and had the courage to grasp it and the vision to recognise it and work for it. I hope his death will have a unifying effect on the people of Israel. He was a rare person, a war hero cum peacemaker and an example to all of us. At a time when the peace process on this island is at a sensitive stage, I hope we will learn lessons, that we will not exacerbate a difficult situation and that we will work genuinely for the cause of peace. That is what we owe visionaries and courageous people like the late Prime Minister Rabin.

Minister for Social Welfare (Proinsias De Rossa):

I join with my colleagues in the House in expressing my sense of shock and outrage at the murder of the Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin.

Once again we have seen a political leader fall victim to an assassin's bullet and a family robbed of a loved one by terrorist violence. Yitzhak Rabin was no plaster saint. For a long time he was a military leader with a formidable reputation. As a political leader he sanctioned activities which sometimes shocked the world, but did so when he believed they were necessary to defend the State of Israel.

In recent years he became convinced of and firmly committed to a peaceful resolution of the problems of the region. He died a martyr for the peace process he had done so much to create. It is sadly ironic that he should have been gunned down by one of his citizens at the end of a rally where many thousands of Israelis had demonstrated their support for that peace process.

We know from our experience here that terrorist violence cannot provide a resolution to political problems. It leaves only a trail of death and suffering and a legacy of hatred. I hope that the people of the region, Palestinians, Israelis and others, will unite in support of the peace process and will reject all kinds of extermism from whatever side it may come. We can draw hope from the scenes at the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin in Jerusalem yesterday where Arab head-dresses were seen side by side with Jewish skull caps as people from many countries united in genuine grief at the loss of a man who had shown such enormous personal courage and political vision in pursuit of peace. The most appropriate memorial to Yitzhak Rabin will be to continue to build on the work he has done to create a lasting peace based on political arrangements which are fair to all concerned.

On behalf of Democratic Left I wish to convey my deep sympathy to the Rabin family and the Israeli people on their tragic loss.

Mr. Sargent:

On behalf of my party and my colleagues in the Technical Group, I wish to extend sympathy to the family of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the people of Israel and the wider family throughout the world and I acknowledge the presence of the Israeli Ambassador. The tragic fact that Prime Minister Rabin was killed by an Israeli extremist clearly indicates that he died not only for his country but for peace, something which is sought in many parts of the world. Hopefully, he did not die in vain and his death will prove a inspiration to peacemakers everywhere to have courage to reach beyond the confines of their ghettos and to seek to change minds and not to use violence. That is his legacy and we hope we will not be found wanting when it comes to seeking the peace he sought. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Members rose in their places.