[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 175 (Tuesday, November 7, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S16725]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE DEATH OF YITZHAK RABIN

  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President I, rise today to express my profound grief 
over the death of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin--a man who was 
brave in the conduct of war and courageous in the pursuit of peace.
  Yitzhak Rabin's life embodied the very concept of leadership. He was 
a warrior of great skill, an accomplished diplomat, and, in the fullest 
sense of the term, a statesman. His leadership was a catalyst of 
reconciliation and peace in a region long torn by animosity and war. 
The dramatic progress we have witnessed over the last 2 years in the 
Middle East peace process would not have occurred without the 
leadership of Yitzhak Rabin.
  One of his key strengths as a leader was his ability to bond realism 
with optimism. It is a trait that is all too rare and all too necessary 
in regions beset by conflict.
  Rabin combined his acute understanding of the obstacles to peace in 
the Middle East with his recognition that peace was essential to 
security of his nation. The product is the historic roadmap in the 
Middle East we must now follow. It has not, nor will not, be an easy 
path. It will be all the more difficult in his absence.
  In such endeavors, leaders matter. Rabin's tenure as Prime Minister 
demonstrated this clearly. Despite setbacks and ever present dangers, 
Rabin never allowed himself to become disillusioned with prospects for 
peace. He forged ahead. He marshalled support for what were initially 
unpopular, but nonetheless necessary, steps toward Arab-Israeli 
reconciliation. Rabin kept the process on track.
  The death of Yitzhak Rabin is clearly a blow to the peace process. 
However, Mr. President, his assassination is not a reflection of the 
fragility of peace he has helped bring to the Middle East. It is a 
reflection of the urgency with which we must work to consolidate that 
peace.
  We must remember that while leaders matter, it is their visions that 
are enduring. Yitzhak Rabin left to Israel and the Middle East, indeed 
to the world, a vision of reconciliation that will be his lasting 
legacy. Our greatest contribution to the memory of Yitzhak Rabin must 
not be our grief over his departure, but determination to ensure that 
his vision of peace and reconciliation becomes an enduring reality in 
the Middle East.

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