Vol. 145 No. 3
I move:
That Seanad Éireann extends its deepest sympathy to the Government and people of Israel on the tragic death of their Prime Minister.
The world heard with shock and dismay of the tragic death of the Prime Minister of Israel last weekend. We can only hope that the peace process to which Mr. Rabin dedicated his life will be strengthened and that his life and his sacrifice will not have been in vain.
On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Senators, I second this motion expressed so eloquently by the Leader of the House. The assassination of Prime Minister Rabin sent shock waves reverberating throughout the world. Those shock waves were felt by his family, the State of Israel and by all those interested in a peaceful resolution of the Middle East conflict. Mr. Rabin played a major part in establishing the movement towards peace and it was ironic that he was killed at a peace rally. We join with the Leader of the House in expressing our deepest sympathy to the family of Yitshak Rabin, to the people of Israel and to all peace loving people throughout the world. We sincerely hope, as Mr. Rabin did, that the enterprise he embarked upon with the Palestinians will herald peace in the region as well as helping towards the peaceful resolution of other conflicts in the world.
On behalf of the Independent Senators I want to express my abhorrence of this foul deed. We salute the memory of Yitshak Rabin who demonstrated his courage in war and then realised that the victories of peace were even greater. We hope that the lesson of this deed, which has filled us with so much revulsion, will be learned. It demonstrates emphatically the need for a peaceful resolution of the Middle East conflict. I extend our sympathy to the people of Israel.
On behalf of the Progressive Democrats I join in this vote of sympathy to the Israeli Government and people. They have taken a heavy blow, one from which I am sure they will recover. Mr. Rabin was a very unusual person and he paid the ultimate price for his courage and his attempts to bring peace to the Middle East. A source of encouragement from the events of recent days was seeing King Hussein and President Mubarak in Jerusalem. We hope there will be a resolution to continue on the path of peace which Mr. Rabin so courageously charted. For all those reasons, we extend our sympathy.
On behalf of the Labour Party I extend our sympathy to the people of Israel and the family of the late Yitzhak Rabin. His progression from soldier to statesman to peacemaker has been a tremendous example, particularly to those of us who live in troubled parts of the world. I sincerely hope his example will be followed and that his work will be continued by others in the Middle East.
I join with others in the vote of sympathy on the death of Yitzhak Rabin. I visited the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with a parliamentary delegation in 1987 or 1988 and one would have to experience the situation and see the great gulf to appreciate the work being done to bring peace to these communities, although I know the world appreciates it. It is tragic that this man who played such a major role in that was shot in cold blood.
