Annual Rabin rally said under threat for lack of funds
With event to honor slain prime minister just 8 days away, organizers say many groups that helped in the past not involved this year
The annual memorial rally marking the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin may not take place this year, for the first time in 20 years, as organizers have reportedly been unable to raise the NIS 1 million ($260,000) required to finance the event.
The rally typically draws tens of thousands of Israelis.
“About four weeks ago it became clear to our astonishment, there won’t be a rally memorializing Rabin. All of those involved in the event in the past are not involved this year,” organizer Asaf Agmon told Channel 2 news on Friday, eight days ahead of the scheduled event.
“Without an official body that recognizes that this [event] is a must, we’ve realized that if we don’t do something, there will be no rally,” he said.
Still, Agmon said that “a small group of ordinary people mobilized right away,” and was still working to try and organize the event this year “and make sure that the square will be full.”
Rabin served as Israel’s chief of staff during the Six Day War in 1967. He was later ambassador to the US, defense minister and twice prime minister. In 1994, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with then-foreign minister Shimon Peres and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat for his part in signing the Oslo Peace accords a year earlier.
On November 4, 1995, Rabin was shot dead at the end of a peace rally by right-wing extremist Yigal Amir, amid national tensions over peace efforts with the Palestinians.
Each year, tens of thousands of Israelis gather at the plaza where Rabin was murdered to pay tribute to the slain prime minister. In previous years, Rabin memorial rallies have denounced racism and extremism in Israel, and have publicly called on the Netanyahu government to lead the country into a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Last year, the 20th anniversary of Rabin’s murder, some 100,000 gathered in the heart of Tel Aviv for the commemoration. A handful of Israeli lawmakers, President Reuven Rivlin, former US president Bill Clinton and current US President Barack Obama addressed the crowds.