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Where Were You on November 4, 1995? 30 Years after the Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (ז״ל)

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My Personal #MomentfromIsrael

Almost everyone from my generation remembers exactly where they were when they heard the news. When someone asks me, “Where were you on the evening of November 4, 1995?”, images appear instantly — just as today’s generation in Israel, and far beyond, immediately knows where they were on October 7, 2023.


Next week, we mark the memorial day for the assassination of Israel’s first native-born Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin (of blessed memory), who was shot dead thirty years ago, on a Saturday night, by a Jewish Israeli assassin.


At that time, I had just arrived. On September 22, 1995, I had made Aliyah to Israel — filled with a positive, perhaps even somewhat naïve faith in this country. That faith has remained over the years — maybe a little less naïve, but no less positive.

My parents had a small rented apartment back then, about ten minutes from Kikar Malchei Israel (“Kings of Israel Square”) — as the square was still called before it became the Rabin Square. On that Shabbat afternoon, I went for a walk there and noticed that something “big” was being prepared for that evening. I saw the stage, the posters, the people setting things up — but I didn’t yet understand the significance of that night in Israel’s history.

So I spent that Saturday evening at home with my parents — in front of the television. And then, around 9:40 p.m., came the first breaking news:

“Shots fired at Prime Minister Rabin.”

I was shocked, confused, speechless — yet convinced that Rabin would survive.

The Ichilov Hospital was just around the corner, and Israel has excellent doctors.

But then, at 11:14 p.m., I heard the words on Israeli television that burned themselves into my memory:

“Rabin is dead.”

At that moment, my world collapsed. I couldn’t believe that something like this could happen in my Israel. And then the first rumors began — that the assassin was a religious Jewish Israeli.

“That can’t be true!”

I remember shouting those words out loud. But then they showed the first images of Yigal Amir, and that was one of the rare moments in my life when I felt ashamed — ashamed to be both Jewish and Israeli.


💬 Invitation to the Memorial Evening

To mark the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (ז״ל), I warmly invite you — together with the Jewish Community of Frankfurt — to a special online event:

📅 Sunday, November 2, 2025

🕘 Start: 17:00 (German time) – 60 minutes

📍 Topic: “30 Years After the Assassination of Prime Minister Rabin – Reflections and Perspectives”

💻 Format: Live lecture and discussion from Israel

 
 
 

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