Speech excerpts referencing Israeli political figures and coalition dynamics

/ BARAK / 32 At the start of my brief remarks at the hotel podium before going to Rabin Square, I had to call for quiet when I mentioned the phone call from Bibi. “No,” I said, raising my voice to be heard above the boos, “we will not boo an incumbent Prime Minister of Israel... A short time ago, I spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu and thanked him for his service to the State of Israel.” Then — with both Leah and Shimon Peres at my side — I paid tribute to “that one special person who had a unique role in our reaching this moment — somebody who was my commander and guide, and the person who led me into politics: Yitzhak Rabin. I pledged to fulfil his legacy, and complete the work he’d started. And I extended a hand to “secular and religious, the ultra-Orthodox and the residents of the settlements, to Israelis of Middle Eastern origin and Ashkenazi extraction, to immigrants from Eithopia and the former Soviet Union, to the Arabs, the Druze, the Circassians, the Bedouin. All, all of them, are part of the Israeli people.” It was not long before sunrise when I reached the square. As the crowd shouted and sang, I began with a line borrowed from Bob Shrum. It seemed particularly apt: “It is the breaking of a new dawn,” I said. But was it? As I paid tribute to Rabin — “in this place where our hearts broke” — and dedicated myself to completing the work he’d begun, I could feel the thousands in the square willing me on. Even in my more nuanced comments on the talks with the Palestinians: the need to achieve peace, but at least for now by disengaging rather than joining hands with the Palestinians, ensuring we had military and border provisions to safeguard our security, and with the stipulation that Jerusalem would remain our undivided capital, under Israeli sovereignty. But some in the crowd were carrying posters saying ““No to the charedim” — the strictly Orthodox. Others were chanting, in anticipation of the negotiations needed to put together a coalition: Rak lo Shas! Anyone but Shas! It was a reference to the Sephardi Orthodox party, which in addition to being more nuanced and flexible than other religious parties on the issue of peace talks, had been the big winner in the election. It had gained seven seats and now had only two fewer than the Likud. I did not specifically mention Shas. But I said: “I tell you here that the time has come to end divisions. The time has come to make peace among ourselves, whether we are traditionalists or secularists... We must not be enemies of each other.” Paying tribute to all those in the square who had worked for our election victory, I added: “I know it would not have been possible without your support. But I also know it would not have been possible without the support many in the 318 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_011789