100,000 Israelis Gather To Mark Rabin’s Death

The deep voice of Yitzhak Rabin resonated once again Saturday in the square where he was assassinated almost a year ago, moving more than 100,000 Israelis with his past words for peace.

“Violence is the collapse of the foundation of democracy,” the late prime minister warned at the Nov. 4, 1995, peace rally where he was assassinated. Supporters replayed a tape of the speech and projected a huge picture of Rabin on the side of Tel Aviv’s municipal building.

Just after 9:40 p.m. - the time Rabin was shot as he left the rally - the multitude stood still for a moment of silence.

Saturday’s rally came a week after official commemorations, which honored the anniversary of Rabin’s death according to the Hebrew calendar. Most of Rabin’s supporters are secular and don’t use the traditional lunar calendar.

Rabin’s widow, Leah, speaking from the same elevated terrace used by her husband in his last address, implored the crowd to “raise the torch Yitzhak carried.”

“Don’t give up on peace,” she said.

Rabin was slain by Yigal Amir, an extremist Jew who hoped to stop the peace process.