Yitzhak Rabin's speech on Mount Scopus
Yitzhak Rabin's speech was delivered at the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University immediately after the end of the Six Day War and was its concluding message.
The event of the speech was the awarding of an honorary doctorate to Rabin on behalf of the Hebrew University as the representative of the army in the war. To a large extent, the event constituted the closing ceremony of the victory events and as such Rabin already had a degree of perspective on the way the war was perceived by the Israeli and global public.
The site of the speech is of great symbolic importance, since until 1967 the university was an Israeli enclave in Jordanian territory that had been under constant siege since the massacre of the doctors' convoy in 1947, and therefore its academic activity was almost completely silent. The use of the campus again emphasized the message about the connection between the military power and the academic world that the event came to represent.
Content of the speech: Rabin focuses the speech on the same connection between military power and the spiritual world, and emphasizes that Israeli military success originates from the values that the soldiers brought from within Israeli society (and by implication the values that the soldiers in the defeated Arab armies did not receive).
Honorable President of the State, Prime Minister, President of the Hebrew University, Rector of the University, Board of Trustees, teachers and gentlemen.
With reverence I stand before you, the teachers of the generation, here, in the ancient and full of majesty that overlooks our eternal capital, and watch the deaths of the ancients of our people together with other great people, who certainly deserve it very much, ask you to share with me the great honor of giving me the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Let me say what is on my mind:
I see myself here as a representative of the thousands of commanders and scores of soldiers who brought victory to the country in the Six Day War; I am the representative of the entire IDF
The question can be asked: What did the university see in awarding an honorary doctor of philosophy specifically to a soldier, as a token of appreciation for his actions in the war? What about the military and the world of the academy that symbolizes cultural life? What about those who, according to their profession, deal with violence and spiritual values?
But I see in this honor that you share through me with the members of the army, a deep recognition, by you, of the uniqueness of the IDF, which is nothing but an expression of the uniqueness of the entire people of Israel
It is agreed and accepted in the world that the IDF is different from many other armies. Although his first task at the top is the military and security task, he undertakes a long series of tasks aimed at peace affairs; Not for destruction but for building and glorifying the nation's cultural and moral strength
Our educational enterprise is well-known for praise and even won the recognition of the entire nation by awarding the IDF the Israel Prize for Education for the year 2016; The Nahal, which combines the work of the army with the work of the land, the school teachers who are involved in social development enterprises and the like. These are just a few examples of the IDF's uniqueness in this area
However, today the Hebrew University came and awarded us a degree of honor as a sign of recognition of the IDF's spiritual and moral superiority precisely in the fighting itself, for we reached this position as a result of the heavy campaign, although it was forced upon us, we came out of it with a victory that has already become a miracle today
War is essentially a difficult and cruel affair, accompanied by a lot of blood and tears. But it was precisely in this war that passed over us that miraculous and rare manifestations of courage and valor were manifested, along with human manifestations of brotherhood and evil and even rest of spirit.
Anyone who has not seen the crew members of a tank who continue an assault attack when their commander is dead and their vehicle is badly damaged, saboteurs who risked their lives to cement their wounded friend in a minefield, who has not seen the concern and frantic effort shown by the entire air force to rescue a pilot who has fallen in enemy territory - does not know the devotion of a friend to a friend what is
The entire nation was thrilled and many even cried upon hearing the news of the conquest of the old city. The Sabri youth, especially the soldiers, are not prone to sentimentality or are ashamed to reveal it in public. But effort
The fighting, the anxieties that preceded it - the sense of salvation and the touch that the warriors touched right into the heart of Jewish history, pierced the shell of shame and rigidity and evoked springs of emotion and spiritual revelation. The paratroopers who captured the Western Wall stood leaning on it and wept. And symbolically, this is a rare phenomenon, which I doubt there are many like in the history of nations. There are not many in the IDF who speak in such evasive formulas, but the revelation of this hour on the Temple Mount is greater than the habits of the tongue, for it highlighted this deep truth like lightning
It's a committee. The joy of victory gripped the entire nation. Nevertheless, we encounter more and more a strange phenomenon among the warriors themselves. They cannot rejoice wholeheartedly, and more than a little sadness and astonishment accompany their celebration, and some even do not celebrate at all. The warriors in the front lines saw with their own eyes not only the glory of the victory, but also its price - their comrades fell next to them, basking in their blood. And I know that the terrible price paid by the enemy also deeply touched the hearts of many of them. It is possible that the Jewish people were not educated and were not used to feeling the joy of conquest and victory. Therefore, this is received with mixed feelings
In the Six Day War there were displays of heroism beyond the bold one-time assault, which erupts without much account. Long and desperate battles took place in many places. In Rafah, in El-Arish, in Umm Tholfet, in Jerusalem, in the Golan Heights, in these places and in many others, the IDF fighter showed himself with bravery and courage with perseverance. There is no one who will not stand in awe of this amazing and spectacular human phenomenon
We often talk about the few against the many. In this war, perhaps for the first time since the daring invasion of Arab armies in the spring of 1958 and the Negev and Degania wars, IDF units stood in all sectors, few against many, and the meaning of this fact is that relatively small groups of fighters were sometimes caught in a sea of prepared and deep fortifications. This means that hundreds of our soldiers more than once encountered thousands of enemy soldiers, and they had to return, row and score in this sea of dangers for many hours even after the first wave of assault, the exciting wave, had died down. In these hours, the only thing left is the necessity to believe in our power, and with no choice before us, to believe in the destiny of the war, and to conceive all the resources of spiritual power to continue fighting until the end of the track
This is how the armorers scored and broke through in all sectors, this is how the paratroopers fought in Rafah and Jerusalem, this is how the engineers cleared deep minefields under enemy fire. The companies that broke through the lines and reached the end of the road, after hours upon hours of fighting, as they rowed further and further and to their right and left, many comrades fell and they kept going forward - only forward! These companies were built on moral values, on spiritual reserves, and not on weapons and combat techniques
We always demanded the best for the ranks of the IDF when we said the best for pilots. In this phrase that became a concept, we did not mean only the technical examination and the talent of the hands. We meant that in order for our pilots to be able to defeat all the enemy forces of four countries within a few hours, they must adhere to the values of moral goodness, values of human goodness
The pilots who hit the enemy planes with such great precision that no one in the world understands how it happened and are looking for technologists in the fields of secret weapons to talk, the armorers who stood and hit the enemy even when the quality of their equipment was inferior, the fighters in the other arms of the IDF who could attack the enemy anywhere despite his superiority And his fortifications - all these not only showed battle courage and coolness. They also showed a strong belief in their righteousness, knowing that only their personal rescue from the great danger would bring victory to their country and their family, that if nothing is achieved, the meaning of nothing will be
Furthermore, all decrees emphasized the priority of the IDF commanders at all ranks over the enemy commanders. The resourcefulness, the intelligence, the readiness, the ability to improvise, the concern for the soldier, and above all the walking forward before their orders - all these are not technique or matters of material. They have no reasonable explanation except in terms of a deep recognition of the morality of their war
These revelations begin with the spirit and end with the spirit, the ascension of our warriors does not come due to the iron but due to the consciousness of a higher mission, of recognition of the righteousness of our cause, of a deep love for the homeland and of the recognition of the difficult role assigned to them - to ensure the existence of the nation in its homeland, to maintain, and even to be
This is at the cost of their lives, the right of the people of Israel to live their lives in their country in peace and tranquility, as a free and independent people
This army, which I had the privilege of leading in this war, comes from the people and returns to the people. The people who rise up in times of need and are able to overcome any enemy thanks to the moral, spiritual and mental level that stands up to them in times of trial
As a representative of the IDF, on behalf of all the soldiers, I proudly accept your recognition.
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