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| Yitzhak Rabin (photo credit: Flash90) |
This statement of Rabin spooked me out then, and that unpleasant, worried feeling hasn't lightened one iota ever since I first heard it.
We all know that politicians in office do feel more kindly to their supporters than those who didn't vote for them, but they are supposed to their best to at least give the impression that they will serve all the people of the country or district they represent.
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| Awkward handshake as Trump and Obama meet face to face for the first time. Photo: AAP |
In Israel, Right, Left or Center, we're pretty used to the reality of finding ourselves with a Prime Minister we abhor, but we accept it as a fact of life and don't riot in protest.
I find the anti-Trump "not my president" riots, protests etc., which is even supported by schools and universities, not just the media, worse than disturbing. It's the protests and lack of acceptance that portends dangerous undermining of the Constitution and democracy in the USA.
The United States proudly claims itself to be one of the oldest democracies in the world, but it isn't behaving as one. This has me worried. I hope that Hillary and Obama will quickly and very publicly send everyone home for a good night's sleep and request that they do the proper thing and recognize rule of law that Donald Trump will be their next President.
**thanks to a friend who found this reference, indirect quote
"...Rabin, the man who proclaimed as prime minister that his opponents could continue to "spin like propellers" as far as he was concerned, and said openly that he was Prime Minister of 98% of the nation, not the 2% who so strongly opposed him. (Another version of his remarks has it that he said his job was to provide security to 98% of Israel's population.) Either way, one could see why he was not loved by lovers of the Land of Israel."
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Message.aspx/2390#.WC3ypJAvDrc
*I couldn't find any reference in English, but a friend found all of these including the English above. The percentage Rabin gave was 98%. He considered the opposition to be very marginal in Israeli society, although many more than 2% opposed Oslo. Here are links and quotations in Hebrew:
בהתנחלויות הייתה אווירה קשה והרגשה שהממשלה מזניחה אותם (בעקבות התבטאויות של רבין כמו "לי אכפת מ-98% מאזרחי המדינה", "פרופלורים"ו"הם לא מזיזים לי").
https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%AA_%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%9C_%D7%94%D7%A2%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9D_%D7%95%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%A9
('אני ראש הממשלה של 98% אחוז מהיהודים.'
http://www.inn.co.il/Forum/Forum.aspx/t8447
"אני ראש ממשלה של 98% ולא של שני אחוז" ( אחרי פיצוץ אוטובוס בתל אביב. 2% - המתנחלים . שימוש ברצח כמכשיר הסתה נגד היהודים החושבים אחרת.( הציטטה הוזכרה בהצעת אי האמון בכנסת 27 פב. 95 - דברי הכנסת )
http://www.bhol.co.il/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=2837454&forum_id=5824
אדוני היושב-ראש, חברי הכנסת, לראש ממשלה יש קצת יותר אחריות משיש לכל אדם אחר בשאלות של ביטחון. לכן אסור לראש ממשלה שהוא גם שר הביטחון, להפריד ביטחונית בין 98% מהישראלים לבין 2% מהם. גם אם הוא אינו מסוגל לתת 100% ביטחון, אסור לה להפריד בין דם לדם. חובתו לדאוג לכל העם. אסור שישתמע שלא כל כך אכפת לו מהיפגעות של 2% מהעם. גם האמירה, שירידה מ-98% מהגולן לא נחשבת לירידה מהגולן, איננה נכונה. להישאר רק על המורדות פירושו לרדת.
http://knesset.gov.il/.../19950227@19950227002@002.html