Knesset holds ceremony marking 25 years since Rabin assassination

The Knesset holds a memorial ceremony to mark 25 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu draws jeers from lawmakers after asserting there are calls to murder him and his family.

“Twenty-five years after the murder of Rabin, there is incitement to assassinate the prime minister and his family, and almost nobody says anything,” Netanyahu said, to jeers from some listening lawmakers. “We must not accept incitement on any side, toward any community. Not toward Jews, not toward Arabs, not toward leaders.”

The prime minister also says political violence should be condemned on all sides.

“We must all condemn the destructive effects of incitement and strongly condemn the actual manifestations of political violence from any camp. A burst of gunfire was not and will not be a substitute for a ballot box,” Netanyahu says.

“Democracy depends on the media not being subject to one and the same voice,” the prime minister continues. “This is the greatness of social networks. They make an important contribution to democracy, but even there there must be no incitement to murder and violence from any side. An atmosphere of silencing political opponents is also a danger to a free society.”