In an interview with Arutz Sheva, the chairman of the Likud faction, MK Miki Zohar, refers to the strong speech of Jonathan Benartzi, the grandson of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, at the memorial service for his grandfather, a speech in which he spoke out against Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu when he declared that the people had emerged "victorious" with Netanyahu's removal from power this year,
According to MK Zohar, the explanation for Netanyahu's decision not to attend the ceremony, after year after year his speeches turned into a confrontation and clash with Netanyahu himself and the right in general. "It does not contribute to Rabin's commemoration but harms his memory," says Zohar.
In his remarks, MK Zohar rejects the claim that there is room for political outbursts in these speeches since Rabin was assassinated against the background of his political views. "This heinous murder that has hit the State of Israel is a murder that we should all say will never happen again in the State of Israel, and we must also act against incitement against the Prime Minister. Netanyahu suffered incitement for years including incitement to murder against him and his family. We condemned it as we condemn any act of violence."
"I propose not to divide right-wing Zionists, because we know the great significance of preserving human life, certainly the life of the Prime Minister of Israel. I suggest engaging in a respectful discourse and maintaining mutual respect because we take care of each other, we are a people even if we disagree with each other and together we must work for the State of Israel."
Zohar was a young man at the time of Rabin's assassination. However he remembers the murder well as a traumatic event both nationally and personally. "Like all the people of Israel, I followed it with interest. Like all the people of Israel, I longed for the prime minister's well-being, but the circumstances were tragic and we must act so that such acts do not happen in the future."
On the characteristics of the current political debate and the claim that he has become increasingly violent, MK Zohar mentions his choice to embark on a campaign to calm tensions and change the discourse in the political arena. However he states that his party has much more to offer. "We will defeat them, both in ideology, in our way and in what we have to offer. This is a government that has risen in great sin, promised the public one thing and gave them something else. The public knows this and will judge them on election day, but in practice we must continue to maintain our positions and clear path as we have done throughout the years, make necessary corrections in the justice system, an iron wall in front of our enemies, as well as in socio-economic issues. But we must do so in a respectful discourse and not in an incendiary and brutal way that seals other publics from hearing what we have to say."