Israel Confronts Itself
Zip Dobyns
Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s warrior hero and courageous Prime Minister who risked making peace with Arafat and the Palestinians, was shot and killed on November 4, 1995. To the Israelis, the greatest shock was that he was killed by one of their own. Yigal Amir is a devout Jew who may have been encouraged to kill Rabin by rabbis who agreed with him that Rabin’s act of giving land to the Palestinians in exchange for peace made him a “rodef” or persecutor of his people which would justify killing him. Amir’s deliberate murder of Rabin by shooting him in the back at close range as he was leaving a peace rally in Tel Aviv has forced Israel to face the critical polarization of the people. The Palestinians struggle to deal with their radical groups including Hamas, while the Jews confront their own religious extremists who are supported by groups in the U.S. that share their rejection of any compromise.
We do not have a time of birth for Rabin, but I have a promising chart rectified by an Israeli astrologer named Isaac Starkman, published in Edith Custer’s Mercury Hour, and passed on to an Internet group by Judy Johns. Rabin was born in Jerusalem on March 1, 1922. Starkman used 25 events in his life and thinks he was born at 14:07 (12:07 UT). I hesitated at first, since the chart is strongly water, air, and fire with only Vesta in an earth sign and house. Rabin was a military leader through much of his life, and I would have expected more earth, but the aspects at his death were appropriate. Perhaps if he had been more practical, he would have worn a bullet-proof vest as his guards desired. Perhaps his faith was contagious since his guards were lax in their jobs, to put it mildly.
We can analyze the chart, keeping in mind that the houses and aspects to angles are questionable. Rabin’s idealism is highly emphasized with Uranus, Sun, and Venus in Pisces, Neptune rising, and Pluto and East Point in the Pisces house. The “identification with God” is also shown by Mars in Sagittarius and the Moon (Ascendant ruler) in the 9th house conjunct Chiron. An identification with the Absolute can be manifested as thinking one ought to be perfect and trying to do what we think is God’s will. The opposite extreme involves thinking we have the right and the power to do whatever we want. The grand trine in fire signs and houses shows tremendous creativity, courage, enthusiasm and drive into action. This fire emphasis could have made Rabin overly impulsive and impatient, but all of the fire except Mars is mixed with water. The water planet, Neptune, is in the first house and a water sign, Cancer, is on the Ascendant. The Moon and its south node (water in their own nature) tone down the fire Chiron, Aries, and the Sagittarius house. Both the Sun and Jupiter, our other fire “planets” along with Mars, are in water houses and the Sun is in a water sign. Fire-water mixtures show intense emotion but the water will tend to hold back on expressing it. Water seeks security, for oneself or for others.
Air is also very strong in Rabin’s chart with a stellium in Libra, a sign often found in politics but also potentially the military, since Libra can be either cooperative or competitive. Mercury and Juno are in Aquarius, and the air is strengthened by Uranus (an air planet) closely conjunct the Sun, while Venus (partly air as ruler of Libra) is more widely on the Sun. If this time of birth is accurate, the Antivertex is in Gemini in the Aquarian house, three of the Libra planets are in the Gemini house, and Mercury is in the Libra house. The chart certainly describes a very bright and very articulate person.
Challenges are indicated by the T-square in cardinal signs but mutable houses. Aries and Libra are highlighted since Saturn is in Libra and the south lunar node is in Aries. Rabin needed to integrate his personal rights and power with the rights and power of others. From what little I know of his life, he was quite successful in doing this, though at the end he was not able to defend himself and experienced the martyr potential of his Sun sign.
The asteroids were dramatic at his death. So many had appropriate aspects, I can only list a sample or the readers’ eyes would glaze over. Since Rabin was shot, I looked first for Winchester, the asteroid I find always involved in events with guns. Rabin’s P Sun was octile N Winchester and conjunct P Winchester. If his guards had known even that much astrology, he might be alive today. P Ascendant and P East Point in 29 Virgo for this birth time were quincunx Hephaistos, maker of weapons, while P Hephaistos and P Bellona (war goddess) in 17 Taurus were quincunx Jupiter. Natal Bellona was on the MC, fitting Rabin’s military career. P Hela, a death goddess, was on P Ascendant and P East Point, and the three factors in 29 Virgo were also quincunx N Juno in 29 Aquarius to form a yod. As readers know, the quincunx is often a key to separations as we try to improve our situation or let it go and move on.
Another death goddess, Hel, was named for the same mythical figure. P Hel was in 18 Capricorn square Jupiter. N Libitina, another death goddess, was in 26 Aquarius, quincunx the Ascendant. P Libitina in 21 Pisces was quincunx P Fanatica and the latter was square P Sun and P Winchester, square N Belisana (war goddess) in Scorpio, and opposite several asteroids in 22 Aquarius: Themis (divine justice), Icarus (overreach), Osiris (an Egyptian god of the dead), and Minerva (wisdom or the need for it). The grand cross in fixed signs and houses indicates major issues involving power. The transiting asteroids when Rabin died included Aletheia (truth) in 22 Leo, and Hybris (hubris) and Ra-Shalom in 22 Scorpio. Ra-Shalom was named in honor of the Camp David peace treaty between Israel and Egypt which marked the real beginning of the hope of peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Sadat, the Egyptian President who signed the treaty, also paid with his life, shot by Egyptian extremists.
There are so many more relevant asteroids in Rabin’s chart, it is hard to stop. P Uranus for years was conjunct Davida and quincunx N Hela. I am watching Davida to see whether it can be used to signify Israel since King David is considered a founder of the country. P Themis (divine justice) had more recently reached a conjunction with Davida and P Uranus and the quincunx to Hela. The P lunar nodes held a very long square to Eleutheria (freedom) in 6 Capricorn, and P Eleutheria was on P Hel sharing the square to Jupiter. We do have to move on, but these aspects strongly support the birth time chosen by Starkman.
So far, I have no data on the assassin; just his age of 27. Netanyahu is the leader of the right wing in Israel who vigorously oppose the peace efforts, especially any relinquishment of the land which was taken from the Palestinians in the 7-day war. I have only the birth date of Netanyahu—October 21, 1949. Astrologers who assume that Libra is always pleasant and cooperative will be shocked to find that he has his Sun, Moon, Neptune, Mercury, south lunar node, Ceres, and Pallas in Libra! Venus and Chiron are in Sagittarius, Pluto and Mars in Leo (over 8 degrees apart so a very tenuous conjunction), and the north lunar node in Aries. The fire and air emphasis shows a dynamic and verbal person. His conservatism is suggested by Juno and Saturn in Virgo and Jupiter and Vesta in Capricorn. Uranus is in Cancer. An early morning birth could give him Virgo rising. If the chart is calculated for Jerusalem, a 4 A.M. time would put his P Moon square P Saturn on the East Point and his P Mars would be on the Ascendant. I did very little with the chart in view of the lack of data, but checked a few asteroids. N Winchester was on his Pallas in 6 Libra which was Rabin’s N Saturn. N Libitina was on Juno in 11 Virgo opposite Rabin’s Sun.
We have even less data on Shimon Perez who became the Prime Minister after Rabin’s death and who is carrying on the peace effort. Four different dates in August are possible though August 2, 1923 may be the most likely. That date would give him a stellium in Leo including Sun, Mars, Juno, Neptune, and Mercury. He would have his north lunar node in 11 Virgo and Vesta in 4 Libra, connecting him to both Rabin and Netanyahu.
Some astrologers work with a chart for Israel when a ceremony was held to declare the freedom of the country. I have mostly worked with the end of the British mandate when the country was legally free in the eyes of the world. This occurred at 0 A.M. on May 15, 1948 in Tel Aviv. This chart’s MC in 29 Scorpio puts T Pluto in a quarter degree conjunction for Rabin’s death. Saturn and the MC are traditionally keys to the executive. P Moon at the time was in 29 Aries quincunx the MC and square Vesta. P Ascendant in 23 Aries 52 was sextile Uranus and P Hela in 24 Scorpio formed a yod to them. P East Point was just coming to a quincunx to P Chiron. P Antivertex was opposite Neptune. P MC was quincunx the Descendant. P Belisana was conjunct both P Pluto and the Descendant while P Fanatica was conjunct Saturn. P Mars recently started a square to P Jupiter.
The road ahead will obviously be difficult. We do not need astrology to tell us that. P Vesta stays square P Chiron and quincunx Juno for two or more years, and (more worrisome) it will soon begin a conjunction with Saturn. P Pluto stays opposite the Ascendant and square the lunar nodes for many years—a fixed cross for power struggles. A cluster in 27 to 28 Gemini is currently octile/trioctile the fixed cross, including P Uranus, P Venus, P Ceres, and P Mercury. Intelligent, reasonable dialogue could work out compromises, but religious extremists are rarely open to reason. The south lunar node in Scorpio in the ninth house shows a lesson connected to beliefs, values, ethics, etc. Note that Rabin’s P Sun and Winchester were approaching a conjunction with the N Sun of the country’s chart. N Winchester is conjunct that Sun in 24 Taurus! P Winchester is now in 23 Gemini, just coming to Uranus and holding an octile to N Moon. P Mars will move into a square to P Winchester and N Uranus in time. It will take heroic courage, patience, and faith to persevere in the quest for peace.