Avi Gabbay at the memorial for Yitzhak Rabin
Avi Gabbay at the memorial for Yitzhak RabinKobi Richter/TPS

Zionist Union chairman Avi Gabbay on Saturday night accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of surrendering to the Hamas terrorist organization.

His comments were made at the memorial for assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin which was held at the Rabin Square in Tel Aviv.

“In the years since the murder, a new generation has been born and raised. A generation that did not get to know Yitzhak Rabin's Israel. Young families, students, soldiers. I want to focus on you tonight,” said Gabbay.

“You did not get to know a prime minister who cared. Cared about our lives. For whom politics was not the goal but the means of making a change. You did not get to know a prime minister who put security first, but strove with great courage for peace.”

“Your generation recognizes a different reality. With a different kind of leadership. A leadership that instead of deciding – puts off making decisions. Instead of solving problems – gets its picture taken. Instead of doing - talks. Instead of joining - separates. A leadership that has nothing to do with our real lives,” charged Gabbay.

“It was not always like that. When Rabin was defense minister, I was a soldier and an officer. My friends and I knew that Rabin would never mix politics with our own security. I see our young soldiers lying on the ramparts opposite Gaza, I painfully see the parents who run anxiously to the protected space, they already understand that the cabinet is holding a political battle in order to gather votes.”

“They know that Rabin chose peace and fought Hamas. Netanyahu gave up on peace and surrendered to Hamas!” Gabbay claimed.

“And it is not only in security. When Rabin was prime minister, I was a young economist at the Finance Ministry. When we worked on economic plans and reforms, we knew that problems are solved and are not ignored. Rabin would not accept a situation in which 200 salaries were needed to buy an apartment. Rabin would never have closed an emergency room in Kiryat Shmona. Rabin did not find this boring! Rabin would have thought of us and would not have given his hand to the corrupt gas plan! Rabin proved that it is possible to behave differently,” continued Gabbay, in a reference to the recent incident in which Netanyahu called a heckler in Kiryat Shmona “boring”.

“We are in the midst of a fight for our country. Over the character of society, the character of leadership, values ​​and personal example, over education for children, their future, a fight for democracy! From here, from this square, which is steeped in the blood of Prime Minister and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who, after an incitement campaign, was murdered in a political assassination. From here we will say with a loud voice that will resonate throughout our beloved country:

“We are fed up with politics of brotherly hatred! We are fed up with the ongoing campaign of intimidation! We are fed up with incitement against the police and against the chief of staff, against the president, against the media, against the Supreme Court, we are fed up with the search for the guilty and the marking of the traitors!”

“The government that encourages brotherly hatred is not a decree from Heaven. We can win - and we must win! Because forever - this is Rabin’s way. I have been an optimistic man and a practical person my entire life, and I tell you, raise your head, do not be afraid! The winds of change are blowing all over the country. Do not believe those who tell you that there is no chance. Do not listen to the discouraged, do not listen to the desperate.”

“The residents of Beit Shemesh, Nahariya, Haifa, proved this week that it is possible to defeat the destructive force. You can beat despair! The majority in Israel wants change, and it is possible to win and achieve change. It is possible to win if we work together, we can win and unite the Jewish people. We can win and return to Rabin’s way,” concluded Gabbay.

אבי גבאי בעצרת הזיכרון לרביןתנועת דרכנו