At the beginning, I turned to the lexical definition of patriotism: Love for the land, loyalty to the native land and the readiness to sacrifice for it. Wandering through philosophical writings by leading statesmen and philosophers suggests that patriotism is defined as something that blends with evil, as a "swamp," from which the two world wars emerged. Of course, we speak about patriotism as something positive, and that is our starting point.

What could this place – the Land of Israel – offer, other than a prolonged struggle for those who came to settle in the newly born State? The established State was a model of patriotism.

The late Itzhak Rabin was a typical patriot, although I do not recall the word patriotism among his words. Since his early years, he did for the State, for its safe existence and later on as a statesman, worked to turn the State into a settled place for children, adults, and elderly people.

The IDF, which was the most precious thing to him, personifies the expression patriotism. The enlistment in the IDF and the continuous search by those who can not enroll, for alternatives to enlisting, are expression of patriotism. The IDF is the core agent, the main tool for the self-sacrifice model and the means for the promotion of the patriotic values. Ben-Gurion established that the IDF had many functions within the Israeli society, apart from security. Its function is as well to educate, to mold and to consolidate society.

Every year, during the week that we mark the year of Rabin's assassination, the General Staff convenes for a meeting and deliberate about the meeting point between the army and society, while relating to the complexity of the relation among the functions. Last year we spoke about endurance, due to the Second Lebanon War, and two years ago, because of the disengagement. The function of the IDF as a unity and educational factor was extensively discussed. We also discussed the traditional army as opposed to popular army and the value of the service and the problem of evasion. One of the people of the panel who was present – the "Hadasa Neurim" high school principal, Mandy Rabinovitch, said that from observing the youths that attend his boarding school it arose that the "entrance tickets" to the Israeli society remains being the enrollment into the IDF.

Our global development brought about changes in society and in the youth's readiness to enroll. We have many challenges as educators, and our function in molding the coming generations, is critical.

We, at the Rabin Center, are establishing a museum, which will focus on the dilemma and the challenges that the State of Israel has been facing since its establishment. The overall view shows that the problems always were the problem of evasion and the struggle for existence.