President Reuven Rivlin expressed “heartfelt pain” and “utter disgust” at blood spilled by a Hamas terrorist in Jerusalem but said Israel will continue to build across the capital city.
Speaking to participants at a memorial ceremony for former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his late wife Leah Rabin at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, the president expressed “heartfelt pain” and “utter disgust” about the attack that took place earlier in the day. But he said that those who will be harmed more than any “will be the terrorists and those who incite and support them.”
Rivlin vowed that Israel would not cease to build across Jerusalem, nor “to impose law and order, by virtue of our sovereignty.”
Days before Rabin was murdered in October 1995, Rivlin noted the former prime minister had addressed celebrations in Washington D.C. to mark 3,000 years of Jerusalem.
“He spoke to the people of Israel and the world, and said proudly and confidently, ‘My Jerusalem is the focus of the longing, and destination of the dreams of the Jewish people. That is the dream, to reach (Jerusalem).
‘We have differences of opinion, from the Right to the Left. We disagree over the direction and over the aim. But in Israel, we have no disagreement on one issue – the unification of Jerusalem, and its continued place as the capital of the State of Israel,’” Rivlin quoted Rabin.
“These were his words.”