The annual official memorial ceremony for Rehavam Ze'evi, known as Gandhi, was held this afternoon at the "Greats of the Nation" Section in Jerusalem's Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery. Participating were Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin, Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, Minister Ehud Olmert, former Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir, and others.
Ze'evi was murdered three years ago in a Jerusalem hotel by a Palestinian terrorist. The fiery minister and former IDF general was on his way to his room to conduct an interview with Arutz-7 shortly after 7 AM when the terrorist, who, with his accomplices, had meticulously planned the crime as well as their escape, opened fire from almost point-blank range, killing Ze'evi almost instantly.
Ze'evi's oldest son Palmach said at the ceremony today that if his father were alive, he would certainly fight against the disengagement plan. "Mountains would crack if he were here now," Palmach said. He spoke strongly against refusing military orders, however, saying that his father would remind the Yesha residents, "such precious people that you are," that there is "life afterwards, and we will all have to live together."
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) has submitted a bill to establish a Rehavam Ze'evi Heritage Center. Ex-Deputy Education Minister Moshe Peled, a Moledet Party colleague of Ze'evi, said at today's memorial, "No one disputes that he was the foremost lover of the Land of Israel and the foremost scholar on the Land of Israel, and therefore the Gandhi legacy must, simply must, be a part of our youth's education."
Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin said today, "As a true soldier, Gandhi once said, 'I don't want wars. But the truth is that it could be that we will have to live by the sword for many generations in order to build the Third Temple, until the Arabs understand that peace is a good deal, for them as well as for us.' It now appears obvious that one need not agree with all of Gandhi's politics to realize the truth of this insightful and wise remark..."
Rehavam Amikam Ze'evi, born in Jerusalem in 1926, was a sixth-generation Jerusalemite on his mother's side. He and his wife Yael, of Kibbutz Deganiah Bet, had five children, 19 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. His five children all had names with modern Jewish-historic significance: Yiftach Palmach, Sayar Binyamin (now a Breslover Hassid), Massada, Tse'elah, and Aravah.
Ze'evi served in the IDF with its founding in 1948 in many positions, including heading the Central Command beginning in 1968. He retired from the army with the rank of Maj.-Gen, and was appointed to be Prime Minister Rabin's advisor counter-terrorism in 1974. He also carried out many defense missions in various countries, and was elected to the Knesset in 1988 as head of the Moledet Party that he founded. He served as minister without portfolio in the Shamir government for about a year in the early 90's, and became Tourism Minister in the Sharon government. Gandhi was most famous for his support of the "transfer" of Yesha's Arabs out of Israel.
Gandhi was murdered only a few hours before his resignation from the government was to go into effect. He, as did then-Minister Avigdor Lieberman, handed in his resignation in protest of the Sharon government's withdrawal from neighborhoods in the city of Hevron.
Ze'evi was murdered three years ago in a Jerusalem hotel by a Palestinian terrorist. The fiery minister and former IDF general was on his way to his room to conduct an interview with Arutz-7 shortly after 7 AM when the terrorist, who, with his accomplices, had meticulously planned the crime as well as their escape, opened fire from almost point-blank range, killing Ze'evi almost instantly.
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) has submitted a bill to establish a Rehavam Ze'evi Heritage Center. Ex-Deputy Education Minister Moshe Peled, a Moledet Party colleague of Ze'evi, said at today's memorial, "No one disputes that he was the foremost lover of the Land of Israel and the foremost scholar on the Land of Israel, and therefore the Gandhi legacy must, simply must, be a part of our youth's education."
Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin said today, "As a true soldier, Gandhi once said, 'I don't want wars. But the truth is that it could be that we will have to live by the sword for many generations in order to build the Third Temple, until the Arabs understand that peace is a good deal, for them as well as for us.' It now appears obvious that one need not agree with all of Gandhi's politics to realize the truth of this insightful and wise remark..."
Rehavam Amikam Ze'evi, born in Jerusalem in 1926, was a sixth-generation Jerusalemite on his mother's side. He and his wife Yael, of Kibbutz Deganiah Bet, had five children, 19 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. His five children all had names with modern Jewish-historic significance: Yiftach Palmach, Sayar Binyamin (now a Breslover Hassid), Massada, Tse'elah, and Aravah.
Ze'evi served in the IDF with its founding in 1948 in many positions, including heading the Central Command beginning in 1968. He retired from the army with the rank of Maj.-Gen, and was appointed to be Prime Minister Rabin's advisor counter-terrorism in 1974. He also carried out many defense missions in various countries, and was elected to the Knesset in 1988 as head of the Moledet Party that he founded. He served as minister without portfolio in the Shamir government for about a year in the early 90's, and became Tourism Minister in the Sharon government. Gandhi was most famous for his support of the "transfer" of Yesha's Arabs out of Israel.
Gandhi was murdered only a few hours before his resignation from the government was to go into effect. He, as did then-Minister Avigdor Lieberman, handed in his resignation in protest of the Sharon government's withdrawal from neighborhoods in the city of Hevron.