Even amid the current violence, Israel must take the lead in restarting the peace process by engaging not only the Palestinians, but also Arab countries within the region, the son of the slain Yitzhak Rabin said.
“Peace has to be negotiated with our enemies,” Yuval Rabin said. If Israel does not deal with Hamas now, it will soon have Islamic State on its border.
Rabin was the guest speaker Oct. 14 at a Montreal event to mark the approaching 20th anniversary of the Israeli prime minister’s assassination, sponsored by Canadian Friends of Peace Now and the Labor Zionist Circle, in co-operation with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
Rabin, a high-tech businessman, is chair and co-founder of the Israel Peace Initiative (IPI), which in 2011 released an alternative proposal for achieving a two-state solution. As the name suggests, IPI believes Israel should once again take the lead in securing its future and not just react to external threats, which Rabin believes is the case now.
He said Israel must be prepared to concede the West Bank and the Arab sections of Jerusalem, as well as lift the blockade on Gaza and give up claim to the Temple Mount, if it is to have lasting peace, and survive as a Jewish state.
Rabin warned that Jews are no longer the majority from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan Valley, and Arabs today account for 40 per cent of Jerusalem’s population. Moreover, those residents’ allegiance is rapidly shifting toward Hamas, he said.
Gaza, currently ruled by Hamas and densely populated by 1.5 million people, is a “time bomb” that must be defused now, he said.
If peace talks do not resume, the so-called one-state solution will soon be a reality, he said.
Potential partners for Israel in the regional framework include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians.
These jurisdictions, like Israel, all fear Islamic extremism and Iran’s power. Together, they could co-ordinate their defence against this threat, he said.
A regional rather than a bilateral approach also offers Israel the guarantee that the Palestinians will abide by their concessions, such as on Jerusalem and the right of return.
A multilateral peace agreement would be an economic boon to Israel, Rabin argued. He believes in the decade following this, the country would have another $100 billion not only for security, but for social, environmental, technology and law enforcement spending.
To date, he said, the Israeli government has ignored the proposal by IPI, which Rabin said has 700 members representing various political leanings.
Polls indicate that 65 to 70 per cent of Israelis support the plan, and Rabin said his discussions with many Arabs indicate similar openness.
Rabin, who spoke to a capacity audience at the Gelber Conference Centre, characterized his father’s murder as a “cold-blooded, calculated act” committed by an ultra-nationalist, anti-democratic religious extremist in a time of bitter division and unchecked incendiary rhetoric.
He resents those in Israel who contend Rabin brought it on himself because of the wave of unprecedented Palestinian terror, including suicide bombings and opposition to the settlements.
As for whether the Oslo accords were a failure, as many allege, Rabin noted that since the last agreement was signed in 1995, the PLO and its successor, the Palestinian Authority, have not perpetrated any violence against Israelis.
“Oslo was the last meaningful progress… All subsequent rounds have failed,” he said.
Rabin, who was critical of the Netanyahu government’s lack of leadership, said none of the issues that split Israelis apart before the assassination have gone away, and the arguments on both sides remain the same and equally ineffective.
Those religious and political figures he believes were responsible for the “incitement” that led to the assassination are still unrestrained, and some hold positions of power today.
Public discourse is as overwrought among Jewish Israelis as it was in the period before the assassination, he added.
During the question period, Rabin said he is concerned that North American Jews feel compelled to support the right wing. “Israel is the enterprise of the Jewish People… Every Jew should be part of what goes on there.”
