PRINTER'S NO. 2778
No. 250 Session of 1995
INTRODUCED BY L. I. COHEN, ITKIN, DeWEESE, BARLEY, CURRY,
KENNEY, E. Z. TAYLOR, RUBLEY, BARD, MELIO, STRITTMATTER,
FARGO, BAKER, SATHER, GODSHALL, MUNDY, STEELMAN, TRICH,
HANNA, JOSEPHS, M. COHEN, McGILL, SCHRODER AND MASLAND,
NOVEMBER 14, 1995
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, NOVEMBER 14, 1995
A RESOLUTION
1 Expressing condolences to the people of Israel on the occasion
2 of the violent assassination of their valiant and heroic son,
3 Yitzhak Rabin, one of the greatest men of history, and
4 confirming hope for the continuation of efforts to achieve
5 security for Israel through peace in the Middle East.
6 WHEREAS, The life of Yitzhak Rabin, which began on March 1,
7 1922, in Jerusalem and ended tragically on November 4, 1995, in
8 Tel Aviv was filled with the actions and achievements of an
9 extraordinary man dedicated to securing the future of Israel;
10 and
11 WHEREAS, In 1941, Mr. Rabin joined the Palmach, the elite
12 strike force of the Haganah underground and, in 1945, commanded
13 a raid to free 200 Jewish immigrants held by the British in a
14 camp south of Haifa and was captured and imprisoned in Gaza for
15 six months by the British; and
16 WHEREAS, At the age of 26, Mr. Rabin was deputy commander of
17 the Palmach and commander of the Har-El Brigade in Israel's 1948
18 war for independence; although the brigade failed to unite
1 Jerusalem, it kept the supply link open between the sea and the
2 Jewish sector of the city. That year, he married Leah
3 Schlossberg who had served in his battalion in the Palmach, and
4 as time passed they had a son, Yuval, and a daughter, Dalia, and
5 embraced their grandchildren, Yonatan and Noa, as their family's
6 legacy to the younger generation of Israel; and
7 WHEREAS, Already an Israeli soldier of great prominence, Mr.
8 Rabin was named Army Chief of Staff in 1964 and was the
9 architect of his nation's 1967 victory over Egypt, Jordan and
10 Syria and the capture of the Old City sector of Jerusalem in the
11 brief but intimidating Six-Day War; and
12 WHEREAS, His life turned toward statesmanship in 1968 when he
13 was appointed Ambassador to the United States, a position he
14 held until 1973; and
15 WHEREAS, That year he returned to Israel and entered its
16 political leadership when then-Prime Minister Golda Meir named
17 him Minister of Labor; and
18 WHEREAS, He became Prime Minister in 1974, following Mrs.
19 Meir's resignation over the nation's lack of readiness in the
20 1973 War. As such, he participated in the signing of the famous
21 Egyptian-Israeli disengagement agreement in 1975; and
22 WHEREAS, In 1984, as Minister of Defense of the Labor-Likud
23 coalition government, Mr. Rabin presided over the Israeli
24 pullout of Lebanon and successfully confronted the Palestinian
25 uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. He served as
26 Minister of Defense until 1990; and
27 WHEREAS, In 1992, Mr. Rabin was again elected Prime Minister
28 of Israel and served as Prime Minister until his untimely,
29 tragic death; and
30 WHEREAS, It was during this administration that Mr. Rabin's
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1 focus, perhaps sharpened by Israel's involuntary role in the
2 Persian Gulf War of early 1992, so historically merged his three
3 aspects of soldier, statesman and politician and shifted his
4 strategy from defending Israel to securing it; and
5 WHEREAS, On September 13, 1993, he, with Israel's Foreign
6 Minister Shimon Peres, participated in one of the greatest and
7 most witnessed historical moments of the twentieth century,
8 signing the self-rule agreement with Yasir Arafat, leader of the
9 Palestine Liberation Organization, and reluctantly, but firmly,
10 shaking the hand of his longtime bitter foe; and
11 WHEREAS, The historical significance of this event is
12 recognized most emphatically by the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize,
13 which was awarded collectively to Mr. Rabin, Mr. Peres and Mr.
14 Arafat; and
15 WHEREAS, The recognition of the PLO by Israel was the major
16 step toward peace in the Middle East; it was followed by
17 negotiations with King Hussein of Jordan which produced a peace
18 agreement between Israel and Jordan and by negotiations with
19 President Hafez al-Assad of Syria which are currently still in
20 process; and
21 WHEREAS, Mr. Rabin's honesty, his status as a Sabra and as a
22 great Israeli warrior, and his courage and vision brought
23 Israel, the Middle East and thereby the world to the beginning
24 of an era of peace, stability and beneficence not felt since
25 Israel achieved its independence in 1948; and
26 WHEREAS, In speaking about Mr. Rabin immediately after his
27 death, Mr. Peres called him a "a rare leader in Jewish history,"
28 while, in fact, he is a rare leader in world history, because
29 his quest for the security of Israel will, when fulfilled, be
30 his great legacy of peace to the people of the twenty-first
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1 century, regardless of their nationality; and
2 WHEREAS, Yitzhak Rabin made the supreme sacrifice in his
3 pursuit of peace and left behind unresolved matters, as Abraham
4 Lincoln did, to be decided and implemented by his colleagues, by
5 his like-minded friends, by the friends of Israel and by its
6 once bitter enemies; therefore be it
7 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives express its
8 condolences to the people of Israel on the occasion of the
9 violent assassination of their heroic and valiant son, Yitzhak
10 Rabin, undisputedly one of the greatest men of world history;
11 and be it further
12 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives confirm its hope
13 for the continuation of efforts to achieve security for Israel
14 through peace in the Middle East, the goal to which he
15 dedicated, and for which he ultimately gave, his life; and be it
16 further
17 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
18 the following:
19 Mrs. Leah Rabin and Family
20 c/o Mr. Eitan Haber
21 Director of the Prime Minister's Office
22 Jerusalem
23 ISRAEL
24 Mr. Shimon Peres, Acting Prime Minister
25 The Kenesett
26 Jerusalem
27 ISRAEL
28 Consulate General of Israel
29 230 South 15th Street
30 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102
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