On anniversary of killing, Knesset memorial for Rabin canceled at family’s request
Memorial for slain minister Ze’evi also called off; families tell parliament speaker Ohana events should not be held due to ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza Strip
An annual memorial ceremony in the Knesset for former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated by a Jewish extremist, was canceled at the request of his family citing the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, the Knesset said Monday, the 29th anniversary of the killing.
A similar ceremony for former tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi, who was assassinated by Palestinian terrorists, was also called off for the same reason.
The families had appealed to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana not to hold the special memorial meetings set for Monday in the parliament to mark the anniversaries of the assassinations.
In a statement, Ohana said that he acceded to the families’ requests and no events were to be held this year on November 4, the date of Rabin’s assassination.
Rabin’s family made the appeal on Sunday, while Ze’evi’s joined them earlier Monday, the Ynet outlet reported.
In addition, the Rabin family has asked that the annual state memorial ceremony not be held later this month for the same reason. The annual event for Ze’evi was already marked last Thursday. The state ceremonies are scheduled according to the Hebrew dates on which the men were killed.
Rabin’s daughter Dalia Rabin sent what she termed a “special and unusual request” to cancel the event in a letter to the Rabin Center established in his memory, as well as to President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ohana.
Noting that the war was still raging, Rabin wrote, “Now is not the time for large ceremonies and it would be correct to provide a suitable, but restrained way to memorialize Yitzhak Rabin,” Ynet reported.
Striking an optimistic note, she wrote, “Next year, when we are able to return to a safe and stable routine, we will return to the full framework of marking the murder, as was the custom in previous years.”
The Rabin memorial event is scheduled for November 13 at the Great Leaders of the Nation’s Plot in Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl cemetery where the former prime minister is buried.
A source involved in planning the ceremony told the Times of Israel that a decision on the matter would likely be made by the evening. Last year’s Rabin memorial was also canceled due to the October 7, 2023, massive attack led by Palestinian terror group Hamas on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and triggered the Gaza war.
Last year’s ceremony had become embroiled in political contention after last month it was reported that Netanyahu would not attend the ceremony, in what would have been a first for a sitting prime minister.
Rabin, a Labor prime minister, was assassinated on November 4, 1995, by right-wing extremist Yigal Amir following a mass peace rally in Tel Aviv that was called to highlight opposition to violence and to showcase public support for the prime minister’s efforts to negotiate with the Palestinians.
On the other side of the political spectrum, Ze’evi, popularly known by the nickname “Gandhi,” was an IDF general turned politician for the far-right Moledet party who had advocated the voluntary transfer of millions of Palestinians out of the West Bank and Gaza to neighboring Arab states.
On October 17, 2001, he was shot dead by Palestinian gunmen from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group at Jerusalem’s Hyatt Hotel.
