In grim, reflective mood, Israelis are marking the 20th anniversary
of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin – the prime minister who took a
historic step towards peace with the Palestinians – linking his murder
by a rightwing nationalist to the latest wave of Arab-Jewish violence and the bleak prospects for ending the conflict.
Rabin was honoured on Monday in ceremonies at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem and in the Knesset, after President Reuben Rivlin solemnly pledged that his unrepentant killer, Yigal Amir, would never be released from prison. Many other events are taking place across Israel in the coming days.
In September 1993, Rabin signed the Oslo agreement with the PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, with President Bill Clinton watching their famously hesitant handshake on the White House lawn. It was a landmark in the century-long war over the Holy Land – though a controversial one that generated furious opposition on both sides.
But his murder at a peace rally in Tel Aviv on 4 November 1995 (the anniversary is marked according to the Hebrew calendar) was widely seen as a hammer blow to hopes that the interim deal, involving a partial Israeli withdrawal and the creation of a Palestinian Authority, could indeed lead the way to a just and lasting peace.
Rabin was honoured on Monday in ceremonies at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem and in the Knesset, after President Reuben Rivlin solemnly pledged that his unrepentant killer, Yigal Amir, would never be released from prison. Many other events are taking place across Israel in the coming days.
In September 1993, Rabin signed the Oslo agreement with the PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, with President Bill Clinton watching their famously hesitant handshake on the White House lawn. It was a landmark in the century-long war over the Holy Land – though a controversial one that generated furious opposition on both sides.
But his murder at a peace rally in Tel Aviv on 4 November 1995 (the anniversary is marked according to the Hebrew calendar) was widely seen as a hammer blow to hopes that the interim deal, involving a partial Israeli withdrawal and the creation of a Palestinian Authority, could indeed lead the way to a just and lasting peace.
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