Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has decided not to attend the official state ceremony in memory of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin which is scheduled to take place Monday on Mount Herzl, Channel 12 News revealed on Sunday.
Opposition leaders normally take part in the official ceremony every year. Netanyahu's office declined to answer a question as to why he would not attend the event.
In recent years, Netanyahu and members of the Rabin family have clashed during the ceremony. In 2019, Jonathan Benartzi, Rabin's grandson, said, hinting at Netanyahu, "If you have a blemish, step aside."
The former Prime Minister replied at the time, "The memorial has become a disgraceful political outburst. They take advantage of the official memorial ceremony for false political propaganda. We see a direct link between this disrespectful behavior and the difficulty of uniting the people, healing the wound."
Last year, during the Knesset’s special plenary session in memory of Rabin, Netanyahu compared the incitement before Rabin's assassination to the incitement against him, saying, "25 years after Rabin's assassination, there is an explicit incitement to assassination against the Prime Minister and his family."
After Monday’s ceremony on Mount Herzl, the Knesset will hold a meeting in memory of the late Rabin, and Netanyahu does plan to attend that meeting.
"In accordance with protocol, the chairman of the opposition will speak tomorrow in the Knesset plenum at a meeting in memory of the late Rabin," his office said.
The special meeting will be held in the presence of President Isaac Herzog and will be attended by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli, Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar and Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy.