ASSASSINATION AFTERMATH : Reactions Here and Around the World

“The kids are asking the same questions the adults are asking: How could this happen and what does it mean and will there be peace ever?”

--Rabbi Carole Lee Meyers, Temple Sinai of Glendale

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“It’s an irreparable loss, but I’m also happy that there is a successor [Peres] . . . who has served the same course of peace and he signalled his determination to stay on that course.”

--Russian Foreign Minister Andrei V. Kozyrev

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“One thing that happens at a time like this is that a bonding takes place. People realize . . . that extreme ideas and fundamentalist evangelical ideas damage the political movement, so I think there will be [continued] movement toward peace.”

--Stanley K. Sheinbaum, Democratic political activist from Brentwood and board member with American Jewish Congress.

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“I fervently hope this grave and painful episode does not disturb in an irreparable way the search for peace but, rather, serves as a further stimulus.”

--Pope John Paul II

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“According to a principle of belief, we believe that whoever unsheathes the sword of tyranny will be killed by the same sword.”

--Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani

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“It’s a tragedy for the Jewish people, and the fact that it was done at the hands of a fellow Jew is an act that we cannot digest. I can’t articulate how horrendous that is. . . . A lot of prayers are being said.”

--Rabbi Sholom Tendler, director of academic programs at the orthodox Yeshiva University of Los Angeles

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“This criminal act, which we condemn in the strongest terms, can only have been carried out by those who have no interest in the genuine welfare of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.”

--South African Prtesident Nelson Mandela.

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“I sincerely hope that the prime minister’s strong will toward peace will be taken over by the Israeli people.”

--Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama