“Jerusalem Assassinated Rabin and Tel Aviv Commemorated him”: Rabin Memorials and the Discourse of National Identity in Israel

Abstract

WHILE TEL AVIV commemorated Yitzhak Rabin and his assassination on the night of November 4th, 1995, Jerusalem virtually ignored both. By appropriating Rabin, Tel Aviv may have gained a measure of legitimacy as the real capital of Israel, while Jerusalem through neglect, relinquished its symbolic role as one. Through their distinct practices of commemoration, Israel's two major urban centers define two contrasting national identities—a contrast that reflects the socio‐political bifurcation of Israeli Jewish society.2 [Israel, commemoration, politics, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv]