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A general view of the rally commemorating the 10th anniversary of the assassination of the late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in the centre of Tel Aviv. REUTERS/Tony Gentile
Two hundred thousand people gathered in Rabin square, Tel Aviv, to take part in a memorial rally marking the 10th anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin by a far-right Jewish religious fanatic at the exact same square.
After receiving a last-minute invitation to the rally, newly-elected Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz said in his speach that “the path of Oslo [peace process] is still very much alive.”
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Vice Premier Shimon Peres said that “there isn’t one person here who doesn’t know what the image of peace between us and the Palestinians will be. We mustn’t delay the peace process. Now is the time to return with full strength to a true peace, not only to build a fence against terrorists, but also to build gates for cooperation with our neighbors and the world.”
Rabin, Peres said, “was a man who did not fear serving peace even when the nation was not ready to accept peace.”
82-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner Peres called on Israelis to “get into the political life, take the voyage of peace. Peace is in your hands, and I call on all of you to give your lives, to serve this country in its goals, its future; give a true thrust to peace, as Yitzhak did.”
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton
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Former U.S President Bill Clinton adresses the Saban Forum during a dinner at the King David hotel in Jerusalem. Clinton is scheduled to address a rally later today, to mark the 10th anniversary of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. AP Photo/Rina Castelnuovo,Pool
The central stage was to be given to former U.S. president Bill Clinton, who was deeply involved in the Oslo peace process with the Palestinians which Rabin had led since 1992. With him were expected to be his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter Chelsea.
Speaking shortly before the rally at the Saban Forum on “U.S.-Israel Dialogue,” Clinton said that he missed Rabin “constantly and painfully”.
“It’s been unbelievably 10 years since that dark day when we lost Yitzhak Rabin and what I still believe is our best chance for a comprehensive and lasting peace. Not a week has gone by in those 10 years when I have not thought of his family, his allies and Israel’s struggle,” Clinton said.
On November 4, 1995, while leaving a peace rally, Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amir, an extremist Jew who considered him a traitor for making concessions to the Palestinians.
