The staircase that led Yitzhak Rabin to his death is today wallpapered with photos of Hamas hostages. On November 4, it was 28 years since that fateful night, but on this occasion the traditional commemoration of the assassination of the former two-time Prime Minister of Israel was suspended due to the war in Gaza.
At the foot of the stairs, a monument marks the place where the Jewish extremist Yigal Amir shot Rabin minutes after giving what would be his last speech, before thousands of people, from the stage that constitutes the large terrace located in the city hall building. from Tel Aviv. “For Israel, there is no path without pain, but the path of peace is preferable to the path of war,” he told a crowd that had gathered to support his decision to make peace with the Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO).
Rabin was moved. He did not expect so many people to defend the Oslo Accords, signed two years earlier in the White House by himself and the leader of the PLO, Yasir Arafat, under the gaze of US President Bill Clinton. These agreements meant the creation of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and opened the way to definitively resolving the conflict.
“We have found a partner for peace also in the Palestinian people. The PLO, which was our greatest enemy, is no longer dedicated to terrorism. Without partners for peace, it cannot exist,” said Rabin that night, who ended by singing Shir LaShalom (Song for Peace). A piece of paper with the lyrics to this popular Israeli song would be found bloody in the prime minister’s jacket, after Amir shot him twice.
The Yitzhak Rabin Memorial is on the street. In addition to the monument, there are several plaques and two murals, one artistic and the other informative, that review the career of the Labor politician. There are photos in both murals, but none of them show the historic handshake in Washington with Arafat, which the following year would earn them both, along with Shimon Peres, the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Palestinian leader does appear, however, in one of the two videos that are continuously broadcast on a giant screen located under the stairs, in front of a bust of Rabin. The voice-over says that Israel was not prepared for this crime to be committed by one of its own.
The videos clearly explain how the tension was brewing for two years that ended up creating the breeding ground for the murderer to pull the trigger. The opposition Likud and the far right launched a campaign against the Oslo Accords and in defense of the settlers, while Hamas made its contribution with suicide attacks throughout the country. Israel was filled with posters with Rabin dressed as a Nazi or with Arafat’s kufiya (scarf). The right also accused him of corruption.
In one of the videos appears the leader of the Likud, who a few months earlier, in this same place in front of the town hall – which was then called Kings Square and is now Rabin Square – had led a protest against the Labor government and against the Peace Agreements. That leader was Beniamín Netanyahu, who the following year would win the elections and bury the Oslo Accords. Netanyahu has always insisted that he does not feel responsible for Rabin’s assassination.
One of the far-right who became popular at the time for threatening to kill Rabin is Itamar Ben Gvir, current Minister of Security in Netanyahu’s cabinet.
Yigal Amir was sentenced to life in prison, plus another six years for wounding one of Rabin’s bodyguards, and eight more for conspiracy. Despite this, this Wednesday there are extremist groups that constantly ask for his freedom.
“We know that there are enemies of peace who are trying to hurt us in order to torpedo the peace process,” Rabin had said in his last speech, before descending the stairs where the assassin was waiting for him.
