Proposed Rabin Honor Advances

A plan to name a Studio City intersection after slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin came one step closer to fruition Wednesday when it cleared a Los Angeles City Council committee.

The Public Works Committee approved Councilman Joel Wachs’ proposal to designate the intersection of Lankershim and Ventura boulevards Yitzhak Rabin Square. The plan is now subject to approval by the full council.

This is not the first effort by Wachs, who represents Studio City, to honor a Nobel Peace Prize winner. In 1990, Wachs proposed renaming Ventura Place to Andrei Sakharov Street, in honor of the late Soviet Union dissident.

But owners of local businesses protested, saying the new name would force them to change their name and advertising. Eventually, Wachs relented and designated the intersection of Laurel Canyon and Ventura boulevards as Andrei Sakharov Square.