As the national commemorations of the fifth anniversary of the late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin's assassination continue, so does the national debate about the "Rabin legacy" and how it is taught in the country's schools. Teacher Yisrael Shiran, who has been suspended by the Education Ministry because of a sharp public letter he wrote against Rabin and the "legacy," expressed cautious optimism that the matter would be dealt with satisfactorily. "We now see that Rabin is the one who was responsible for the catastrophic situation in which our State now finds itself " The Association for Civil Rights in Israel asked Ministry Director-General Shlomit Amichai to rescind her suspension of Shiran, saying that it was a "grave blow to freedom of speech and to the values that the Ministry must advance."

Regarding the Rabin legacy itself, MK Tzvi Hendel wrote in Ma'ariv yesterday that it is not actually what it seems to be. He read his article aloud on Arutz-7: "We note this week the 5th anniversary of the painful assassination of Yitzchak Rabin, of blessed memory. Especially now, when we see the Oslo agreements rising up against us, and Arafat's soldiers murdering our sons, it's important to see the true Rabin legacy, and not the distorted 'legacy' disseminated by the extreme left. In my dozens of talks with Rabin before and after the first Oslo agreement, which was known as 'Gaza and Jericho first,' I learned quite well his conception of this specific process. I didn't agree with him even then, but it was certainly a far cry from what two of his biggest enemies at the time - Peres and Beilin - are now trying to portray. Rabin saw 'Gaza and Jericho' as a small experiment, and Oslo in general as a big experiment, and he promised that if these experiments failed, they would be shelved and the results would be dealt with.

"Rabin was dragged against his will into Oslo, and shook Arafat's hand only with deep aversion. It was clear to all that... blatant violations of the agreement would bring the process to an end. Now, five years after Rabin's murder, I demand that no one take false ownership over his legacy. Specifically, the last ones who should do this are Peres and Beilin, who embittered his life up until his last day. His political weakness within his party gave them the ability to press him even on difficult diplomatic issues. Unlike them, he was not stricken with their false Messianic vision of peace. If he was alive now, he would say, 'Enough of this madness! We must turn the wheel backwards.' This is Rabin's true legacy regarding Oslo."

--Arutz-7

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