Chapter 6 Monday May 9th cont. Independence Day

After returning from Jaffa, we went back to Tel Aviv to go to Itzhak Rabin Memorial. We had walked to the park the previous night and the park doesn't look quite as appealing during the day. As we walked to the monument signifying where Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish radical, Ronit regaled us with stories about the several times during her military career where she met Mr. Rabin. She was very impressed that Rabin would remember her every time they met until she realized that his memory was remarkable and would frequently astound people by remembering their names even though he may only have met them once very briefly. Ronit also expressed her personal view that he was the last Prime Minister to be able to forge a consensus among the various factions in Israel and it was tragic that his life was cut short.

The party in Rabin Square lasted all night with fireworks at 11 PM and again at Midnight. There was disco music blaring till after 4 am and most of us got very little sleep that night. Ruth was up early and walking the beach at 5:45 am and said the party was still raging in a disco up the beach. They sure know how to party in Israel.