Yitzchak Rabin
Yitzchak RabinIsrael news photo

An estimated 30,000 people – many fewer than in previous years – showed up for the annual Rabin memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv for the Gregorian calendar date of his murder. President Shimon Peres: "Rabin was killed, his vision will win."

The late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was killed 15 years ago this month following a Saturday night rally at the same Tel Aviv location – then called Kings of Israel Square, now known as Rabin Square – at which this evening's rally was held. Peres, a master of homily who was present on the rally podium with Rabin just moments before the latter's life was taken, made statements at this evening's rally such as, "They took Yitzchak's life, but his legacy is still valid… They murdered Rabin, but they won't be able to murder the peace… We are more determined than the enemies of peace, and that's why we will win... We will yet weep tears of consolation… "

He began by saying, "15 years have passed. We are in the same square. Everything seems the same, except that Yitzchak Rabin is missing. And I tell you that on that day that we long for, he will be with us again. His image will be here, as number one in the front line of peace. He will wave his hand shyly as he used to do beforehand. And his voice will distort the tune, but not the words of the Song of Peace [sung, famously, at the rally 15 years ago]…"

Rabin's grandson Yonatan Ben-Artzi spoke from the podium as well; no politicians were invited. It was recalled that last year, Labor Party leader Ehud Barak was booed at the annual event, and a repeat performance was not desired.

Banners and stickers of Peace Now and other radical left-wing organizations abounded, while behind the dais was draped a giant, 20-foot high portrait of Rabin.

Peace Camp's Version of Rabin's Legacy Missing Some Elements
Commemorations of Rabin's legacy by the "peace" camp do not generally mention that Rabin strongly opposed a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, expressed confidence that the PA security forces would deal with Hamas terrorism without concern for Supreme Court rulings or civil rights organizations, and generally took a relatively hawkish stance within the Labor Party.

In an interview with Time magazine shortly after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, Rabin was asked about the apparent softening at the time of the Labor Party's traditional opposition to a Palestinian state. He responded unequivocally, "No. I am against this. I oppose the creation of an independent Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan…"