Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Photo: AJN file

AMNON MERANDA

JERUSALEM - The Knesset plenum convened for a special session commemorating the 14th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Thursday.

“The secret to Rabin’s charm, for me, was the fact that he was first and foremost a patriot,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said as he took the podium. “That fateful night saw a heinous killer point a gun at Rabin’s bare back and a patriot taken down by a murderer who fired a bullet at the heart of the nation.

“In every one of the positions he held in life, from the young warrior fighting for the country, to the premiership, he made decisions he thought would be in the public’s interest,” said the PM.

“We did not always see eye to eye, but even when we profoundly disagreed I always had the greatest respect for him because I knew that his decisions stemmed from what he believed was best for the country… still, even today, there are some who refuse to accept democratic choices and the preeminence of the law.

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RONEN MEDZINI

JERUSALEM - Aviva Shalit, mother of kidnapped Israeli solider Gilad Shalit, spoke Tuesday at the kickoff of a Knesset exhibit dedicated to a book her son wrote at age 11.

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ELANA SZTOKMAN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his new cabinet. Photo: Israne

THE status of women in Israeli politics has hit a new low. As new Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu finalises his coalition talks, the picture for women is becoming starkly clear: Two women, among some 35 men in senior cabinet positions.

The two women, by the way, are Likud veteran and former Education Minister Limor Livnat as Minister of Culture and Sport, and Sopha Landver of Yisrael Beitenu as Minister of Absorption.
The two women now constitute the 5.4 per cent female representation in the Executive Branch of government, below the world statistic in which 12 per cent of UN nations have a women head of state (24 out of 192), far below the 21 per cent of representation in the Knesset, and way, way below the 51 per cent of women who actually make up the population of voters.
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