The annual memorial rally in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv that was to be held this week has been canceled as organizers are unable to raise the funds required to host the event. This will mark the first time since the assassination 21 years ago that the annual event is not held. Organizers report they only succeeded in raising two-thirds of the NIS 800,000 required.

No official body was willing to underwrite the event so organizers began looking for funding. An official announcement has been made canceling the event, which led to Machane Tzioni party leader MK Yitzchak Herzog announcing the former Labor party which Rabin headed will host an alternative event.

While event organizers over the years insisted the rally was a memorial for the slain prime minister, many members of the right-wing and religious communities viewed it as nothing more than an organized event against them, an event at which they were clearly unwelcome.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)