Bill Clinton to address Tel Aviv rally marking Rabin assassination

Saturday night event will end week of ceremonies marking 20th anniversary of murder of PM

By JTA 25 October 2015, 7:00 pm
Then-US president Bill Clinton laughs with prime minister Yitzhak Rabin upon his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, October 27, 1994. Clinton arrived in Israel after a trip to Syria where he met with president Hafez Assad in an attempt to further the Middle East peace process. Later, speaking to the Knesset, Clinton said of Syria, 'Its leaders understand it is time to make peace.' (AP/David Brauchli)

Former United States president Bill Clinton will speak at a Tel Aviv rally marking the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The rally on Saturday night, at the square that now bears Rabin’s name, will cap a week of commemorative events in Israel, including a state ceremony at Mount Herzl and a special Knesset session.

In his eulogy for Rabin at the state funeral in Jerusalem, Clinton memorably ended with the words “Shalom, chaver,” or “Goodbye, friend.”

Rabin was slain on November 5, 1995, by a Jewish extremist at the square that will host Saturday’s rally.

A handshake between Hussein I of Jordan and Yitzhak Rabin, accompanied by Bill Clinton, during the Israel-Jordan peace negotiations (White House, Public Domain)

Clinton was president of the United States when Rabin held office and was close to the prime minister. Clinton stood between Rabin and the late PLO chief Yasser Arafat at the signing of the Oslo Accords peace agreement in Washington, DC, in September 1993.

Bill Clinton looks on as Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands during the historic signing of the Oslo Accords, September 13, 1993. On the far right, current Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (GPO)

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