Wartime Diaries
Episode 8
Rabin Is…
- 1:05:56
- 2015
Rabin is a symbol. An icon. Twenty years later, it isn't so simple to understand what he truly stands for anymore.
Who is Yitzhak Rabin today, twenty years after his murder? In this episode, we discover that for many Israelis, he represents completely different – and often conflicting – things: Rachel Rabin remembers her older brother as a shy kid, who forced her to be the goalie in neighborhood soccer games. His ‘fixer,’ Me’ir Palevsky, tells how a crude joke might have saved Rabin’s political career. Aliza Goren, the woman closest to the scene of the assassination, talks about standing in the operating room, looking at a dead prime minister. For Etgar Keret, Rabin is a cat, and maybe that’s not so strange, when we hear how others – filmmakers, educators and politicians – take Rabin’s legacy in all kinds of other – no less bizarre – directions. Lastly, Naomi Chazan reads the very last note she got from Rabin – a letter from the grave.
Prologue
Host Mishy Harman reflects on his whereabouts when he received the news about the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Act I: Rabin is My Brother
Rachel Rabin, Yitzhak Rabin’s little sister, isn’t so little anymore. Rachel, 91, reminisces about her childhood with her older brother who she remembers as a shy kid, who forced her to be the goalie in neighborhood soccer games.
Act II: Rabin is Just a Guy
Yitzhak Rabin’s ‘fixer,’ Me’ir Palevsky, tells how a crude joke might have saved Rabin’s political career.
Act III: Rabin is Dead
Like the JFK assassination, everyone remembers what they were doing when they heard the news. For Aliza Goren, that isn’t so hard – she was one of the people closest to the news. Matan Dishon, on the other hand, was more or less the farthest you could get from the news, at least in Israel.
Act IV: Rabin is a Cat
Etgar Keret, an author and a regular contributor to our show, lives less than a ten minute walk from Kikar Malchey Israel, the square where Rabin was murdered. One of his most iconic short stories is actually about Rabin. It’s called “Rabin is Dead” but Rabin in the title of the story isn’t the Rabin.
Act V: Rabin is Up For Grabs
For Israelis, especially in recent years, Rabin can take on almost any shape or form. Shai Satran speaks to filmmakers, educators and politicians about their take on Rabin’s legacy.
Act VI: Rabin is Really Gone
Naomi Chazan, a former member of Knesset (and Mishy’s aunt), reads the very last note she got from Rabin – a letter from the grave.
Credits
This episode was a mammoth effort, by the entire Israel Story team, and orchestrated by Shai Satran. Thanks to Davia Nelson, of the phenomenal Kitchen Sisters, who dubbed Rachel Rabin, to Niva Lanir, Uri Rosenwaks, Dani Zamir, David Harman, Matti Friedman, Rotem from the Rabin Center, Guy Eckstein, Elad Stavi, and Yonatan Glicksberg. To Collin Oldham for the original music for Rabin Is Dead, and to the IDC Radio Studios in Hertzliya. Our staff includes Yochai Maital, Shai Satran, Roee Gilron, Maya Kosover, Benny Becker and Shoshi Shmuluvitz. Rachel Fisher and Sophie Schor are our incredible production interns. Julie Subrin’s our Executive Producer.
