Yitzhak Rabin Is Assassinated at a Peace Rally

On the evening of 4 November 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin attended a major pro-peace rally at Kings of Israel Square in Tel Aviv. The gathering, organized by a coalition of left-wing parties and peace organizations, brought together a crowd of more than 100,000 people to support diplomatic reconciliation with the Palestinians under the framework of the Oslo Accords. Addressing the assembly alongside Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, Rabin affirmed his conviction that the majority of the public sought peace and was willing to accept risks to achieve it. As the rally concluded, Rabin walked down the steps of Tel Aviv City Hall toward his waiting vehicle.

The demonstration had taken place against a backdrop of severe ideological polarization. Right-wing conservatives and national religious factions viewed territorial concessions in the occupied territories as an illegitimate surrender of biblical land. During public protests leading up to November, opposition leaders, including Likud head Benjamin Netanyahu, accused Rabin of detaching his administration from Jewish values, while mock funerals and extreme imagery of Rabin in Nazi uniforms appeared at demonstrations. Some radical rabbis debated traditional legal principles such as din rodef, arguing that an individual who endangered Jewish lives could be subject to lethal self-defense. Although the internal security agency, the Shin Bet, warned of rising threats, Rabin refused protective measures such as wearing a bulletproof vest.