TEL AVIV, Israel - More than 100,000 Israelis gathered Saturday night at the square where Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, to remember the man 12 years after his killing, and to protest the circumcision ceremony of his killer's son.
The square in front of Tel Aviv city hall was the site of a peace rally on Nov. 4, 1995. As it ended, Rabin was gunned down by an ultra-nationalist Jewish opponent of his policy of trading land to the Palestinians for peace.
The assassin, Yigal Amir, an Orthodox Jew, was sentenced to life in prison. Although held in isolation, he has been permitted conjugal visits over the past year with his wife, Larissa Trimbobler, whom he married by proxy while in prison. A boy was born last week and the circumcision -- a major ceremony in a Jewish boy's life -- is scheduled for Sunday, coinciding exactly with the 12th anniversary of the Israeli leader's slaying.
An Israeli court this week rejected a request by Amir to leave jail to attend the ceremony but said it could take place within his prison walls, a decision that outraged Israelis.
"This is a memorial rally that is also a protest rally,'' Rabin's daughter, Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, said before the gathering.
The birth comes at a time of growing sympathy for commuting Amir's sentence. Israeli extremists and Amir's family have launched a campaign to have him released from prison and a recent newspaper poll indicated about a quarter of Israelis, including almost half of religiously observant Jews, think Amir should be pardoned in 2015 after serving 20 years.
Clemency is the prerogative of Israel's president. President Shimon Peres, who was Rabin's foreign minister and just a few steps away when the Israeli leader was gunned down, has said Amir shouldn't be pardoned. On Saturday, Peres did not address the matter directly, instead encouraging the crowd to fulfil Rabin's legacy and push the path to peace.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak, on the other hand, took direct aim at the killer.
"The despicable murderer does not deserve to be remembered tonight,'' Barak said. "I will only say this: his punishment will not be commuted and the prison gates will shut him in until his final days.''
Rabin's son, Yuval, also lashed out at the planned circumcision ceremony and called on the crowd to counter the pro-Amir movement.
"The man who on that night, 12 years ago, stood here and calmly took the role of accuser, judge and executioner; the man who did what he pleased with the laws of democracy continues to do so today,'' he said.
The mayors of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem also addressed the large crowd.
Israel officially marked the 12th anniversary of Rabin's slaying last week, according to the Hebrew calendar. But the rally in Tel Aviv has become an annual pilgrimage for ordinary Israelis to show respect for the beloved leader.
Rabin's government negotiated the first interim peace accord with the Palestinians, and he won a Noble Peace Prize for his efforts.
Participants filled Rabin Square and spilled over into the surrounding streets, some carried signs and banners calling for peace and tolerance.
Police would not give an exact number, but organizers said more than 150,000 attended the gathering.
The rally opened with film footage of Rabin addressing the 1995 rally, thanking participants for coming out to support the theme: "No to violence, yes to peace.''
Facing the large crowd from the same balcony where Rabin spoke 12 years ago, Israeli singers sang songs linked to the assassination and to peace.
