it," said Bar-Ilan President Professor Shlomo Eckstein.
However, the university turned a blind eye to these po-
litical activities, even when they were of the most extreme,
racist sort. The worst example was Bar-Ilan's acceptance
of Mr. Raviv to the student body three or four years ago,
after he was expelled from Tel Aviv University for racism.
He protested the election of a Druze student-body pres-
ident, and hung racist posters on the TAU campus. "Then
he showed up over here. I think the Bar-Ilan adminis-
tration has to answer for that," said Effi Rifkin, a Bar-
Ilan member of the Israel Students Association.
President Eckstein said while Mr. Raviv studied at the
kollel, he was expelled for political activities. He contin-
ued political activities on campus, and received an "offi-
cial warning" to stop, Mr. Eckstein noted.
Two days after the assassination, some 500 faculty
members gathered in a closed, "soul-searching" session.
"They're mortified," said one source who was present.
"They feel guilty, like they were to blame." LI
Capital
Reaction
A huge, high-level
delegation headed
to Jerusalem as
Washington was filled
with grief and anxiety.
JAMES D. BESSER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
I
w
LLI
LU
LU
R18
n Washington, the assassination of Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin produced a tidal wave of
grief and deep anxiety about the future of the Mid-
dle East peace talks. President Bill Clinton was in-
formed about the assassination by National Security
Adviser Anthony Lake. A few hours later, television
viewers saw the president choke up several times
while making a highly personal statement.
"Just as America has stood by you in moments of cri-
sis and triumph, so now we all stand by you in this mo-
ment of grieving and loss," he said in a message to the
Israeli people. "Peace must be and peace will be Prime
Minister Rabin's lasting legacy."
President Clinton wrote most of the Rose Garden state-
ment himself, according to administration sources. His
speech at Monday's funeral in Jerusalem, which was re-
plete with Jewish references was penned by speech writer
Anthony Blinken, who is Jewish, with input from White
House staffers Rahm Emmanuel and Sandy Berger and
others.
A major portion of the speech was written aboard Air
Force One during the flight to Israel.
Administration insiders say the huge, high-level fu-
neral delegation — including two former presidents, five
Cabinet officers and numerous congressional leaders —
was a deliberate signal to reassure Israelis that Ameri-
can promises to help Israel with the risky business of
making peace would survive last week's tragedy.
Official Visits and Spontaneous Vigils
Many Israeli diplomats learned of the tragedy from
friends and relatives in Israel. Most broke off their Sat-
urday activities and raced to the embassy for what be-
came an exhausting vigil of official work and personal
grief.
Ambassador Itamar Rabinovich, a longtime friend and
colleague of the slain leader, was returning from Boston,
where he was preparing for Mr. Rabin's scheduled ap-
pearance before the Council of Jewish Federations Gen-
eral Assembly. Embassy officials gave him the news at
the airport.
"His first reaction was like the reaction of all of us,"
said an embassy spokesman. "He was shocked that he
was dead, that it was done by a Jew — but he also had
a job to do. So he kept his feelings in."
The embassy fielded calls throughout the night from
members of Congress, administration officials, diplomats
"The prime minister was a martyr for peace, but he was a victim of hate. Surely we must learn
from his martyrdom that if people cannot let go of the hatred of their enemies, they risk sowing
the seeds of hatred among themselves."
—President Bill Clinton