Funeral Speeches:
Former Director-General of the PM Office
Shimon Sheves
Our dear Yitzhak.
Difficult, in fact impossible, to speak of you in the past tense. I cannot comprehend the fact that all of us — the family, the friends, and all your admirers — are standing here, beside your coffin. I cannot accept the fact that an abominable hand, a murderous hand, a hand of destruction and hate, put an end to your life. Put a stop to your energy, your strength, your faith.
You were an amazing fighter and military man. You were a statesman and a leader, above and beyond. You were the epitome of the sabra, rough and prickly on the outside, soft, sensitive and wonderful inside. You were a rare and outstanding person who encompassed values and vision, wisdom and reason, as well as the wonderful capacity to realize all of them, with determination, extraordinary talent, and enormous faith. You saw only the just cause in front of your eyes.
You were a husband, a father, and a wonderful grandfather, loving and embracing. I was with you during those hours when you were so concerned, when you hoped so much that everything would always end well. We all knew and felt the enormous love, the rare tie you had with Lea, with Dalia, with Yuval, with Noa’le, with Yonatan, with Mickey, with Rachel, with all of them. If you only knew what love, admiration, and longing they feel for you. They, this wonderful family, and all of us — the friends and the relatives — admired you. We thought you were the greatest of them all, the strongest man who headed the camp, raising the banner, and all of us following you.
To me you were a friend, a guide, a leader and a great father. We started working together almost a dozen years ago, and never since parted ways. I had the privilege to be with you during difficult moments and great moments. I followed you with closed eyes, and now I refuse to open them, refuse to believe. I was with you through moments of darkness and mourning over soldiers and sons who died, and through moments of great light and joy, most of them pertaining to joy over people, over the development of the country, over the changing face of the state, and over realizing the vision of peace.
At all times you always remained you yourself, a man of friends. Not a man of ceremonies, but an upright and determined man, sensitive and true and wise, so wise. And this is why I loved you, and moreover, trusted you without a doubt. I always knew that if there was a man in whose hands we could entrust our fate, our future, ours and our children’s well-being, it was only you, only Yitzhak Rabin. You did not recoil from scare tactics, you were not fearful of threats. You believed in the people of Israel, in Israelis, in Israeliness. You believed that the majority of the people want peace, and would support the peace and you.
This is a difficult day for us, a day that is difficult to name. A day of stunned shock. A day of shattering. A day on which we feel orphaned, distressed, the terrible void. I’ve lost a leader, I’ve lost a friend. I said that for me the state is finished, and I meant that Israel after the abominable murder won’t be the same as the Israel that was during Yitzhak’s life, in any respect. We lost a very dear man.
The only thing left to us at this moment is to remember those beautiful moments of your life. You fell on a night that was all optimism, joy and solidarity. You fell on the night in which you brought the support of the people for your way — the road to peace — to its peak. Your most treasured principle was the principle of security and peace. All of us must firmly embrace, with our hearts and with our minds, what became your last will on that evil and swift night: no to violence, yes to peace. With this last will we shall continue on your way, on the road you paved for all of us. You are absent, but your spirit, your faith and your dedication to the road remain with us.
I am parting from you, Yitzhak, with a salute and an embrace. I loved you very, very much. A man, a great father, friend and teacher, the likes of which I shall never have again. In the words of the poet: "Where are there men like that man?".
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