PM, president defend late minister ‘Gandhi’s’ legacy
In an annual memorial ceremony commemorating assassination of renowned former IDF general and politician Rehavam Ze'evi, Netanyahu and Rivlin defend his legacy after he was posthumously accused of rape and conspiring to commit murder.
A memorial ceremony for former IDF general and politician Rehavam Ze'evi (Gandhi) was held in the Knesset on Tuesday, marking the 16th anniversary of his assassination.
Ze'evi, a former Palmach fighter, decorated major-general, minister and founder of the right-wing nationalist Moledet party, was killed in 2001 by a four-man terrorist team operated by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
He came under heavy scrutiny last year when a report by Channel 2’s investigative journalism television program "Uvda" aired allegations that Ze'evi conspired in an attempted murder of a journalist who panned him, and raped a female soldier under his command.
The publication prompted several politicians, among them MK Zehava Gal-On (Meretz) and MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union), to work towards canceling the annual memorial day the Knesset inaugurated in 2005 in Ze'evi's memory, and call for boycotting it in protest.
"There were those who recently sought to cast a shadow on Gandhi's years of work in service of the State of Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech at the event. "The allegations against him hurt us all, everyone who knew him and respected his great deeds."
"This was accompanied by a clear attempt to obscure or erase Gandhi's accomplishments and legacy, which simply will not happen. We will not let this happen," Netanyahu asserted. "Gandhi's important accomplishments in the struggle for the establishment of the state cannot be wiped away by means of boycotts."
Before the ceremony at the Knesset, a memorial was held on Mount Herzl, during which Netanyahu espoused the highest praises for the late minister and expressed regret that Ze'evi's wife, Yael—who passed away in November 2016—had to endure her husband's name being tarnished without him being able to defend himself.
"We lament that in her last year Yael had to endure the accusations against Gandhi, and that Gandhi could not respond (to them—ed)," Netanyahu said, hailing Ze'evi as "the protector of the homeland" and adding that "the bullets of the murderers who killed him will not extinguish his inner flame that continues to radiate light to this day."
'The dead cannot clear their names'
Taking the podium at the memorial ceremony for Ze'evi, President Reuven Rivlin echoed Netanyahu's sentiments, calling for all to remember Ze'evi for his accomplishments, reiterating that he is unable to defend his reputation.
"This is the first year that we hold the memorial service for Gandhi when Yael is not here, sitting with us. In the last year of her life, Yael grappled with the difficulty in the things that were published about Gandhi.
"But as I said here last year, I will also say now: things that come after the conclusion of one's life are difficult to examine. The dead cannot clear their names and cannot protest the stigmatization of their honor and memory.
"Even in the face of the accusations against him, we must remember his achievements, and they were many."
