HL Deb 06 November 1995 vol 566 cc1578-80

3.9 p.m.

The Lord Privy Seal (Viscount Cranborne)

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I should like to make a Statement.

I am sure the House would not wish to let the day pass without honouring the memory of Yitzhak Rabin, who was cruelly murdered last weekend.

The late Prime Minister of Israel was a soldier. Like all true soldiers, he pursued his profession in order to achieve the ultimate security of his country. Your Lordships, perhaps better than any other assembly, know that peace alone can provide any nation with that security. There was therefore no paradox in the fact that the general became the peacemaker.

I believe that the whole House will acknowledge that the most appropriate memorial that the nations can erect to Mr. Rabin is a lasting peace settlement in his homeland. If his untimely death is to serve any purpose at all, let it accelerate the conclusion of that settlement rather than delay it.

Our deepest sympathy goes to his family, to the Jewish community in this country which contributes so much to our national life, and, of course, to his countrymen.

Lord Richard

My Lords, may I start by thanking the Leader of the House for giving us the opportunity of expressing our sentiments at these dreadful events. May I echo what he has just said about our sympathy going to Mr. Rabin's family, the Jewish community and the whole state of Israel. The killing of Yitzhak Rabin last Saturday evening is one of those, thankfully, rare events which really make us wonder for the future. It is almost a truism to say that Israel and the Middle East will never be quite the same again; but it is so. One gathers that inside Israel itself there is a feeling of shock and revulsion; a sense of bewilderment and perhaps, too, a feeling of self-questioning in the light of the fact that the assassin was himself a young Israeli. As one Minister put it: I always stubbornly thought that perhaps we are better than others, but we are not". It is this threatened loss of national self-confidence and sense of identity and unity in Israel which could now prove to be one of its greatest dangers. Israel is a young country and a young democracy. Its institutions are going to come under severe strain in the coming months. It is important that we should all do what we can to help to nurture that democracy and help preserve those institutions. They will need all the help that we can give them in the aftermath of this terrible blow.

There is almost a classical sense of tragedy about these events—a soldier turned peacemaker killed as the peace process he did so much to promote gradually gathered momentum. The awful fact is that he was shot by one of his own countrymen and not by one of his former enemies. Finally, there is the extraordinary contrast between his last words and the act that almost immediately followed them.

At that final rally last Saturday, Mr. Rabin said: I have always believed that the majority of the people want peace and are ready to take a chance for peace. And you"— addressing the audience— by coming to this rally prove that the people truly want peace and oppose violence". He then said this: Violence erodes the basis of Israeli democracy. It should be condemned, expunged and isolated. It is not the way of the State of Israel. There is democracy. There can be disputes, but the outcome will be settled in democratic elections".

I believe that Yitzhak Rabin was one of the great figures of our time. He was one of those very rare people who genuinely shaped and changed events. I found the sight of so many Arab leaders at his funeral this morning profoundly moving, as it was to see the King of Jordan expressing himself to an Israeli crowd in the way that he did and with the emotion that he so clearly felt. It would have been inconceivable a few years ago. As the Leader of the House said, his most fitting memorial would be to take forward the process towards peace and reconciliation in the Middle East. That is a process which in his lifetime he did so much to promote and for which in the end he gave his life.

Baroness Seear

My Lords, we on these Benches also wish to express our horror at the murder which took place on Saturday. We send our very sincere sympathies to Mr. Rabin's family, to the Government and Parliament of Israel and to Jewish people throughout the world for whom Israel and its future are matters of cardinal importance.

Mr. Rabin was here some months ago and he addressed us in the Moses Room. Those of us who had the opportunity to be there were, I believe, enormously impressed by the courage, determination and skill of that very great statesman. To those who were listening to him—to me most certainly—it came over very strongly that he must have been aware of the dangers that he encountered. Of course, he was a soldier and a leading statesman and never let those factors deter him in any way.

I join very much with those who say that the best tribute to him would be the continuation and successful conclusion of the peace process. It has got so far but it is far from concluded. Let us hope and pray that it will be possible for that process to be taken forward swiftly while the horror of what has happened is still with the people of Israel and before any other events intervene in the progress towards peace.

Lord Clinton-Davis

My Lords, I knew Yitzhak Rabin and I admired him enormously. Certainly, within the Jewish community here he was a figure who had assumed an enormously important role. He will be greatly missed. It is a terrible tragedy borne of dark and irrational forces with a vested interest in fuelling hatred and seeking to take advantage of legitimate anxieties which afflict both sides in this lasting, long-enduring tragedy. But it also provides a strong moral for democratic leaders opposing a government's policy in a democracy. They should distance themselves from that hate and refuse to collude in its dire consequences. I fear that that has been the story in Israel, with the burning of effigies of the leaders and the pouring of odium and hate on their heads.

Yitzhak Rabin was a man of extraordinary frankness, and indeed bluntness, which could displease a lot of people quite often. But he spoke as he felt. The one thing that he felt so deeply about was the security of Israel and the promotion of peace with the Palestinians and her Arab neighbours.

I remember vividly meeting him just after his election victory in the summer of 1992. He was not in the least triumphalist and neither was he daunted by the immense challenges that he knew that he faced. He was dedicated to the task that he knew was his. Along with Shimon Peres, that task was to bring the opportunity of a peaceful solution to the problems of Israel and her neighbours. As a general he had seen too much blood of young people spilt. He hated that. He played a pivotal role, along with his colleagues—and, it has to be said too, with Yassir Arafat—in stimulating the peace process. He enjoyed a huge confidence in Israel in his strong leadership and in his vision, even though there was also massive criticism—for no one can dispute the divisions that exist in Israel and among the Palestinians about the peace process. One can only hope that Shimon Peres is likely to become the next Prime Minister and that he and Yassir Arafat can translate the vision of that great statesman, Yitzhak Rabin, into a lasting reality.

Lord Weatherill

My Lords, in the absence of the noble Lord, Lord Jakobovits, who, I believe, would have been the right person to express the feelings of the Cross Benches today, I would like to be associated, on behalf of the Cross Benches, with the tributes which have been paid.

The Archbishop of Canterbury

My Lords, outrage and sorrow about this assassination are deeply felt by Christian churches throughout the world. It was because Yitzhak Rabin was such a tough, battle-hardened warrior, as the Leader of the House has already said, that he was so effective in leading his people towards reconciliation. He pursued peace as boldly and courageously as he had fought in war.

The killing of this brave leader was a violation of the sacred commandment against murder which is at the centre of the Judaeo-Christian religion. It is a reminder of how demonic religion can become when it is perverted by hatred and fundamentalism. In the name of the God of justice and love, I express my abhorrence of this crime, my heartfelt sympathy for the people of Israel in their grief and my profound hope that the momentum towards lasting peace will continue as Yitzhak Rabin would have wished.