Yuval Rabin, the son of former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, had an angry response Tuesday to those who say the Oslo Accords – which his father signed – led to the bloody terrorist war on Israel that followed. Speaking at a ceremony Tuesday marking 18 years since his father’s assassination, he said, “I’m seeing a worrying phenomenon of history being rewritten before our eyes." “Yitzchak Rabin was not a dreamer, and he wasn’t naïve,” he declared. “The risks and threats were not unknown to him – but what guided him was the obligation to leave no stone unturned, to look into every possibility… He has not been here for 18 years, and still we face the exact same reality-shaping decisions.” He then launched into criticism of those who link Oslo to terrorism. “To argue that terrorism happened because of Oslo is cynical and deliberately wicked,” he accused. “The escalation of terrorism is an ongoing process, and various factors did ‘contribute’ to it, but one thing is consistently clear – those who commit terrorism are against compromise.” “We as a nation must decide if we will give any attacker the right to veto [diplomacy],” he continued. “I think we need to recall my father’s clear and distinct statement, ‘Fight terrorism as if there were no peace process, and work for an agreement as if there were no terrorism’ – for those who truly want an agreement, there is no other way.” Israel must continue “to create cooperation… to present an Israeli answer to the Arab peace initiative, and to promote talks with the Palestinians within its framework – and not only with them,” he said. “We have an opportunity to create a fascinating future for the coming generations… to pursue peace in order to change the reality in the Middle East… and to make Israel an exemplary state. All we have to do is to stop being afraid, and to dare,” he concluded. Those who have linked Oslo to the terror war that came shortly afterward include Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party, who said Saturday night that the Oslo Accords had caused " tremendous damage, sorrow and grief ." The Almagor organization for victims of terrorism has responded to previous claims that Oslo did not cause an increase in terror by explicitly listing the ways in which decisions made in diplomatic talks led to later attacks.
