Shalom chaver

Yesterday was the fifteenth anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's death.

I suspect it went mostly unnoticed in this country, especially with Election Day just two days prior. Apparently it has been going by unnoticed even in Israel lately, which is concerning. According to this NYTimes article published last week, not all Israelis look to Rabin as the symbol of the peace process that they used to.

On the other hand, the NYTimes published this nice tribute to Rabin written by Bill Clinton yesterday, the anniversary of his assassination. President Clinton knew Rabin professionally and personally, and it is apparent from the article that he cared for him greatly. He also has a much more positive (maybe even naive?) view of the current peace process than the author of last week's article.

The contrasting views are intriguing. I wonder whether President Clinton is so optimistic because (some say) the time he spent dealing with Rabin and the peace process was so effective, or because he truly believes they are in a good position at this point? I can't say I share his enthusiasm, although he probably has access to more information than I do. I certainly hope he's right.