Israel Remembers Rabin's Death

TEL AVIV, Israel: With the Mideast peace process teetering, Israel commemorated the one-year anniversary of the assassination of one of the architects of the policy, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Marchers carried torches and signs declaring "Peace will avenge his blood" as they walked amid heavy security from the site of Rabin's shooting on the steps of city hall to the hospital where he died 90 minutes later. Rabin's assassination, at the hands of a nationalist Jew opposed to his peace efforts with the Arabs, occurred on November 4, but according to the Hebrew calendar the one-year anniversary fell Wednesday. Since the assassination, the peace efforts have been strained and the chasm between Israelis who support the land-for-peace formula and those opposed to it have increased. Earlier this year, four suicide bombings by Islamic militants shook Israelis' confidence in the peace process and helped lead to hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu's election as Prime Minister. Since Netanyahu took office, relations between Israel and its Arab and Palestinian neighbors have been strained as Netanyahu drags his feet on implementing Rabin's peace plan. The rifts within Israel have also not recovered from the assassination, as the differences between secular and religious Jews, and peace supporters and those who oppose giving up land have been exacerbated. There also were disagreements on how Rabin should be remembered. His family, which holds Netanyahu partially responsible for the political climate that contributed to Rabin's death, wanted a national day of mourning. After the government denied the request, Rabin's family asked that Netanyahu not speak at the grave site. -- Josh Dubow