On November 4, 1995, the nation of Israel and the international community were shocked to learn the news of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. It was a sad day that cemented the fact that peace in the Middle East was an illusive and sometimes fatal pursuit.

Rabin was a former military man. He commanded Israeli forces in the Six-Day War against Arab nations in 1967. His experience in military campaigns brought him to the position of Prime Minister in 1974. A small controversy, not intentional on his part, brought him down from power. It was then illegal for Israeli citizens to have foreign accounts, but his wife had kept the account she had had while he served as Ambassador to the United States. Rabin immediately resigned as Prime Minister, in a move that earned him a lot of respect as a man of integrity.

Rabin still remained an active part of his government by serving as Minister of Defense. Some of his early actions against the Palestinian uprising in the late 80s was heavy handed, though a few years down the line, he realized that peace was the only solution to the Israeli –Palestinian conflict and sought to pursue it through diplomacy and dialogue.