Peres: Candle lit in Rabin's honor is obligation to peace

At ceremony marking 15th anniversary of assassination, president says Rabin progressed toward peace despite being aware of danger.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Peres Rabin Ceremony 311 (photo credit: Mark Neyman, GPO)
Peres Rabin Ceremony 311
(photo credit: Mark Neyman, GPO)
President Shimon Peres honored the memory of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin on Tuesday at the "Yitzhak's Candle" ceremony at Beit Hanassi, in remembrance of the fifteenth anniversary of Rabin's murder.
At the ceremony Peres addressed those gathered, including Rabin's family and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, stating that the candle being lit represents an "obligation to peace."
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"Yitzhak was determined to progress towards peace, even though he was aware of the difficulties that stood before him, at home and from the outside."
Peres stated that his friend of more than fifty years was aware of the hatred against him, but carried on in what he believed despite the danger.
The defense minister stated that Rabin must not be forgotten while speaking at a conference in Shfayim earlier on Tuesday.
"We have not forgotten him for a single moment, but we must all do more to make sure today's youth know about Rabin and the influence he had on Israel,"  Barak said.
Barak added that it was of utmost importance for Israel to "pave the way" for peace, without compromising Israel's security.
"Yitzhak Rabin was a real fighter and a man of peace," Barak said.
Tuesday evening marks the 15th anniversary of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination.
The defense minister's comments were in  direct opposition to those of Labor MK Einat Wilf, who also on Tuesday was criticized by fellow Members of Knesset Tuesday for suggesting that the annual Rabin memorial rally should be canceled.
On Monday morning, General Staff Forum members gathered at a ceremony at the Rabin Center to mark the impending anniversary.
During the ceremony,  Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said the IDF is making strong efforts to tell the story of Rabin's assassination because today's soldiers were only five-years-old when it happened and it is a duty to remember and remind people about it.
"Yitzhak Rabin is not with us today, but his spirit and legacy continue to guide us, and with that his hope that there will be an equal, united, and inventive society here. We're back here today knowing that this torch of hope...is in secure and good hands, and [we're here] in the belief that it will remain in such hands in the future," said Ashkenazi.