ASSASSINATION AFTERMATH : Rabin’s Widow Thanks Mourners Who Held Vigil

The tearful widow of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin came down from her apartment Sunday to thank hundreds of Israelis who held a candlelight vigil outside her building.

But Leah Rabin asked the crowd where they had been when anti-government protesters staged numerous protests against her husband’s peace policies in front of their home in the plush suburb of Ramat Aviv.

“Too bad you didn’t come then,” she said. “But you came now and it makes me happy and encourages me and my children and grandchildren that you respect his memory in this wonderful and respectful and beautiful way,” she said.

“Thank you very much for being here. I appreciate it and I love you on his behalf.”

Mrs. Rabin returned to Tel Aviv after receiving condolences from Israeli dignitaries and citizens who filed past the casket outside the Parliament in Jerusalem.

Recalling Saturday’s assassination at the end of a Tel Aviv peace rally attended by more than 100,000 Rabin supporters under the slogan “Peace yes, violence no,” Mrs. Rabin said:

“In his last moments he heard the loud applause and cheers . . . and those were his last moments.”