To tour palaces, without royalty.
In preparation for the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin the 14th, the task of welcoming the world leaders was divided among the government ministers. One of the leaders I received and accompanied was Prince (then) Charles. He arrived without a crown and without a scepter, like an ordinary mortal, and surprised by asking questions, after who warned me that he was a "cold radish". He had questions related to personal security and the mistakes that allowed the murder, but his main question was whether the Oslo process would die with the murder.
This was not a surprising question, as we all asked ourselves, and were asked about it in the media.
The answer of the people of peace was that the murderer murdered the leader and not the way, and that the role of all of us is to turn the disaster into a lever for the realization of the vision.
He looked at me for a long second and asked if I really thought so.
I told him that Rabin, with his special personality and courage, was committed with all his heart to the peace process, and we will miss him very much, but it does not mean that his death will stop the process.
After all, Peres is as committed to the process as he is, and people like me see it as their life's mission and are willing to sacrifice their lives for it.
He was silent.
I was afraid that my answer did not convince him.
A very different question ran through my mind during our conversation.
I wanted to ask him if he is not considering being the man to abolish the institution of the monarchy in Great Britain, since it will depend on him, to a very large extent, from the day he is crowned king.
After all, it is not so likely that a distinctly democratic country like Great Britain would give the position of head - even a symbolic one - in the hands of one family, with the only criterion for its coronation being the position on the succession list.
If tourism is the main motive for allowing the monarchy - then in France there are no fewer tourists than in Britain, and these visit palaces without tenants and are impressed by them as if Louis XIV was sitting, at that time, in one of the closed rooms.
I admit: despite the opportunity for a private conversation, I didn't muster up the courage to ask the question.
We arrived at his hotel, and said our goodbyes.
Then we met at the funeral.
He told me that following our conversation he never stopped thinking about continuing the process in Rabin's absence.
He really hopes that I was right in my answer, but he fears that it will be more difficult than before.
He was not wrong.
There are no magic numbers.
When Colonel (res.) Gadi Eisenkot arrived at the "Meet the Press" studio, a truly amazing fact was revealed: it was his first time entering a television studio. The new interviewers presented this - and rightly so - as their great achievement, and their mistake was that they were not satisfied with his appearance as a great innovation their.
The former Chief of Staff has already been interviewed by newspapers and podcasts and explained his views at length, and the main message is the essential need to change the political status quo. He is careful to describe the exact solution, and thus he joins the supporters of shrinking and reducing the conflict. Since his policy statements were nothing new, he was pressed by his interviewers to announce what the minimum number of mandates is, which gives legitimacy to the formation of a government. His answer, indeed, became the title of the interview with him.
The very special interviewee, the smart one, careful not to scatter promises and slogans, initially tried to be content with the fact that the number should be two digits, but the interviewers understood that this was not a title.
In the end, everyone breathed a sigh of relief: Eisenkot agreed to number 13...
It is clear that he himself did not plan to offer this number before entering the studio.
It is clear to him, as it is clear to all alumni, that if the election results are such that it will allow the head of his party to form a government with a coalition of at least 61 members, even without his faction winning 13 mandates, it will not be Eisenkot who will announce that he will not lend his hand to the move.
There is no magic in the number 13.
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