Israel learns nothing from Rabin's murder, says late leader's daughter

Daughter of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said on Monday Israel "learned nothing" following her father's death, as Israelis marked 20 years to the political murder that shocked the countries and possibly thwarted peace efforts between Israelis and the Palestinians.

Speakers at official ceremonies spoke of Rabin's legacy and the state of affairs between Israelis and Palestinians then and now, amid a deadly month-long wave of violence, and growing extremism in the country and inflammatory rhetoric by right wing Israeli lawmakers.

Dalia Rabin-Pelossof spoke about the violence and incitement felt in Israel, echoing the atmosphere prior to the murder at a state memorial ceremony held on Mount Herzel in Jerusalem, next to the late prime minister's burial plot.

"I thought the darkness that had fallen on the family would bring unity and purpose...since then I've witnessed rivers of deep, dark hatred spreading throughout the public discourse," Rabin-Pelossof said, the Ynet news website reported.

"This fire, which consumes all the good in its path, is fueled by unbridled incitement, the same incitement that created the impression that it was allowed and possible to shoot a prime minister," she added.

Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated after attending a massive peace rally in Tel Aviv on the evening of November 4, 1995, after months of incitement and right wing extremists' protests, exacerbated by a wave of terrorist attacks.

Far right-wingers blamed Rabin for signing the 1993 Oslo Accords that gave the Palestinian Authority sovereignty over parts of the West Bank territories, among others.

Rabin was a military man who took part in the occupation of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War, and stressed the need for peace in his later days, serving as prime minister between 1992 and 1995. He struck a peace deal with Jordan in 1994.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin also took part in the ceremony. Netanyahu spoke at the official ceremony of the "rift" the murder created in the Israeli society. In an earlier speech during a special parliament commemoration session, he painted bleak prospects to peace with the Palestinians.

Ten Israelis and 58 Palestinians were killed in recent weeks in a wave of violence that started in east Jerusalem and spread throughout the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and across the country.

In his parliament speech, Netanyahu compared the wave of violence Israel is currently facing to a wave of bombing attacks Rabin and his government faced throughout the early 90's, and blamed Palestinian extremism that does not recognize a Jewish state and wants to destroy Israel.

He also said that Israel will take unilateral steps to "decrease friction" between Israelis and Palestinians, but failed to explain what those were. A spokesperson for his office refused to add anything to the statement.

"They (the Palestinians) are not willing to recognize the Jewish national state, they teach their children to hate Jews and see Israel as the root of all evil," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu has repeatedly accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Islamist movement in Israel and Hamas of inciting to violence amid escalating tensions around an east Jerusalem flashpoint holy site, which sparked the recent wave of unrest.

Leader of the center-left Zionist Union list and parliament opposition leader Isaac Herzog accused Netanyahu during the same session for the current security situation and rebuked his comparison of himself to Rabin.

"Twenty years have passed and the state of Israel still misses his responsible leadership, which makes decisions and averts leadership like the current one which rolls the responsibility on to others," Herzog said on Monday.

Another memorial rally for the late prime minister will be held on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv, in the square where the murder took place. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who was Rabin's close associate, will attend and speak at the rally.

Israel occupied the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Mideast War. Palestinians seek to establish a state on those territories, with east Jerusalem as the state's capital.

The last round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians ended abruptly in April 2014 and prospects for peace talks seem dim, as both Israeli and Palestinian leaders blame each other for the outbreak of violence and for distorting the truth for their purposes. Endit