Following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's decision to be absent from the memorial ceremony for Yitzhak Rabin, leader of the Machane HaMamlachti Party, Benny Gantz, criticized the decision, calling it "a leadership failure."
Gantz: "Netanyahu must show up for the ceremony"
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced yesterday (Monday) to the organizers of the memorial ceremony for Yitzhak Rabin that he will not attend it. Netanyahu's claim is that the last time he was prime minister, the Rabin family used the occasion for political purposes. Since then, he has not attended.
Against the backdrop of this decision, Chairman of the Machane HaMamlachti party, Benny Gantz, strongly criticized Netanyahu's choice. According to him: "During my 38 years of service in the IDF, I knocked on the doors of hundreds of bereaved families. In the early years as a soldier and later as a general, these were soldiers who fell right by my side in battles. Feelings of guilt and responsibility never fade away."
On the doorstep, there were also families who accused, shouted, and slammed the door. But even when I knew in advance that this is the reception I would receive, I stood firm. I did it out of personal and moral duty, and as the Chief of Staff, it was also a national duty."
Furthermore, he added: "Netanyahu's decision to absent himself from the official memorial ceremony for Yitzhak Rabin, may his memory be blessed, is not only anti-state, but it is a serious leadership failure. No matter how much criticism he may face, the Prime Minister of Israel must do the right thing, honor the memory of a slain Prime Minister, and attend the ceremony. If not out of personal duty, then on behalf of the State of Israel and all its citizens."