Today (Sunday) is the annual memorial day for the late Prime Minister in Israel Yitzhak Rabin Zal, who was murdered in a political assassination during his term of office 27 years ago.
At 1:00 p.m., the “Yitzhak Candle” lighting ceremony will be held at the Israeli President’s Residence in Jerusalem, in the presence of President Yitzhak Herzog and with the participation of family members, ministers, members of the Knesset, soldiers, students and those who cherish Rabin’s memory.
At the Yitzhak Rabin Synagogue in Rehovot there will be a memorial service and Mishnayat study tonight at 19:30. Earlier, at 3:00 p.m., a state memorial ceremony will be held in the Great Nation’s Plot on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem in the presence of the Rabin family, President Herzog, outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid, outgoing Speaker of the Knesset MK Miki Levy, President of the Supreme Court Judge Ester Animals and elected officials.
At 17:00, the 24th Knesset plenum will gather for the annual special memorial session in the plenary hall of the Knesset building, in the presence of outgoing Prime Minister Lapid and the leader of the opposition, Prime Minister-designate MK Benjamin Netanyahu, who will deliver speeches. The arrangement of the speakers is done this way, because the elected Knesset 25 will be sworn in in just a week and a half and the official results of last week’s elections will be published in the records in just three days, and then the work of assembling the new coalition will begin.
The highlight event of the Rabin Memorial Day and the 27th anniversary of the assassination of a Prime Minister in Israel at the height of an internal political struggle destructive to democracy – will begin at HaTarbut Square (Habima Square) in Tel Aviv at 6:00 p.m. and end with a ceremony at 7:30 p.m., with the participation of the chairman of the Rabin Center and the daughter of the murdered Prime Minister Dalia Rabin, the “Israeli Assembly” which connects the working and learning youth trainees and Bnei Akiva as well as other youth movements and broad publics from all sectors to discourse circles, public figures and citizens from all over the country.
Among the topics the assembly will deal with: the polarizing discourse and violence as a real danger to Israeli democracy. This is the seventh year that the youth movements will hold the event, and this year more than 20 local assemblies are expected to take place throughout the country, with the main one being the large assembly in Tel Aviv.
Dalia Rabin said: “I chose to come to the Israeli assembly again this year, with the understanding that this is the assembly that represents Yitzhak Rabin’s vision and path more than anything else.”
She added that “open discourse is a necessary condition for the existence of a Jewish and democratic state. At the same time, there is no place in a democratic society for discrimination, violence, and dangerous extremism that threatens us from within. The role of the youth movements to confront the most difficult issues in society is an important and valuable role, and I thank them For carrying the torch of memory without fear and without cynicism.”
Pesach Hausfer, coordinator of the Dror Israel movement, explains: “The Israeli assembly is an attempt to bridge differences, divisions, animosities, and especially prejudices between the various parts of Israeli society. The face-to-face meeting repeats and proves year after year, since Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, that at the end of the day the public in Israel has a common destiny and destiny, and despite the disputes, divisions and ruins that have befallen us in the past, we are capable, can and want to live together.”
Yigal Klein, Secretary General of Bnei Akiva, added: “We believe in this hope that it is possible to connect all parts of Israeli society, and that our mission in Israeli society is not over. Together we can do many more things.”
The Israeli assembly is organized by the “Remembering the Murder – Fighting for Democracy” coalition, which includes the youth movements in Israel in cooperation with the Rabin Center, KKL-Junk and social organizations. It is the coalition that leads the memorial rallies to commemorate the murder, and seven years ago decided to hold them in the format of discussion circles.