Yitzhak Rabin and the Case for Courage

Read: The trials and hopes of a Jordanian Muslim named Yitzhak Rabin

When Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat traveled to the White House in 1993 to sign the Declaration of Principles, it was a leap of faith and act of courage on both sides. Before shaking the hand of the man he had long considered his mortal enemy, Rabin spoke directly to the Palestinian people, making clear why he thought the risks were worth it:

We have come to try to put an end to the hostilities, so that our children, our children’s children, will no longer experience the painful cost of war, violence, and terror … [We] are destined to live together, on the same soil in the same land … We, like you, are people—people who want to build a home, to plant a tree, to love, live side by side with you in dignity, in affinity as human beings, as free men.

For the remaining two years of his life, Rabin proved that these were not hollow words. He worked tirelessly to be a real partner to Arafat, the Palestinians, and other Arab leaders, especially King Hussein of Jordan, with whom Israel signed a peace agreement in 1994.

My job was to ensure that the United States was a credible mediator committed to maximizing the benefits and minimizing the risks of peace for both sides. Both Rabin and Arafat knew that if they made an agreement, their lives would be at risk for a few years. More than once, I told them that the United States would do everything we could to try to keep them safe. Sadly, the threat to Rabin’s life materialized before the agreement.

Twenty-five years after his assassination, I continue to believe that, had Rabin lived, we would have reached a comprehensive agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians in the next two or three years. If we had, the past two decades would have been very different.

Read: The state of Israel

Today the path to peace is very steep. Israeli settlements occupy much more of the West Bank, Gaza has long been controlled by Hamas, and the Arab states care less about the Palestinians and more about modernizing their economies and containing Iran, two goals that make it advantageous to strengthen their relationships with Israel.

Every Israeli leader I have known, beginning with Rabin, wanted peace with Israel’s neighbors. In that sense, we should be encouraged by the recent agreements Israel reached with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The current Israeli government seems to hope that the PLO will someday be willing to trade its claims to land and statehood for money and some form of autonomy. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO leadership have rejected that. Meanwhile, the Palestinian public living in the West Bank remains under Israel without a vote or a voice in their own affairs.