Israel Marks 25th Anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s Assassination

Israel on Thursday night is remembering the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, gunned down by a right-wing extremist 25 years ago, according to the Hebrew calendar, at a peace rally in Tel Aviv. Born in Jerusalem in 1922, Rabin was the quintessential Israeli Sabra, joining the underground army of the Jewish community during the British Mandate, leading the forces liberating the besieged Jerusalem during Israel’s War of Independence and commanding the Israeli military during the 1967 war. In his decadeslong political career, Rabin served twice as prime minister. In 1977, he resigned from the office after learning that his wife Leah had accidentally violated foreign currency regulations by leaving open an American bank account from his term as ambassador to Washington. He regained the premiership in 1992 and proceeded to sign a peace agreement with Jordan and the Oslo Accords with the Palestinian Authority. His overtures to the Palestinians, including his willingness to withdraw Israel’s military presence from territories taken in the 1967 war, led to unprecedented hostility and incitement from right-wing political and religious figures, and ultimately to his murder.