I CAN'T WAIT TO READ WHAT BARRY CHAMISH SAYS ABOUT THIS

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1019000/1019833.stm

Sunday, 12 November, 2000, 15:53 GMT
Leah Rabin dies of cancer

The BBC's Jeremy Cooke in Jerusalem

"A symbol to those Israelis who shared her dream of peace"
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Shimon Peres
"She was brave, intelligent, outstanding"
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Senior Palestinian negotiator Abu Ala'a
"She proved that she was a lady of peace"
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Ora Namir, friend
"We already miss her very much"
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Leah Rabin campaigned for the peace process

Leah Rabin, the widow of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, has died in hospital at the age of 72.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that all of Israel was in mourning for her, and described her as a "courageous and strong woman".

The government of Israel and I, as its leader, as well as all the people of Israel are in mourning for Leah Rabin, a courageous and strong woman

Ehud Barak

Mrs Rabin had been suffering from lung cancer for at least a year and was admitted to a Tel Aviv hospital last week.

She was too ill to attend ceremonies marking the fifth anniversary of her husband's assassination on 4 November.

Mr Rabin was killed in 1995 by a right-wing Jew opposed to his policy of handing over land for peace.

Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995

After his death, Mrs Rabin became a more public figure, campaigning internationally for the peace process that her husband had promoted.

Paying tribute, Israeli Cabinet Minister, Shimon Peres said she was the carrier of Yitzhak Rabin's memory, his flag and his way.

"She was brave, intelligent and outstanding, never giving up either her views or her respect for life," he said.

The BBC's Chris Morris in Jerusalem says Leah Rabin was admired by many Israelis.

But others criticised her, saying she was keeping open the wounds laid bare by Yitzhak Rabin's assassination.

Jewish commando

Leah Rabin was born in the then German town of Koenigsberg (later part of Russia) in 1928 and emigrated to the British mandate of Palestine when she was a young child.

She was brave, intelligent and outstanding, never giving up neither her views nor her respect for life"

Shimon Peres
She was training to be a teacher in Tel Aviv when she decided to join the Palmach - an elite Jewish commando force fighting the British - and work on the group's newspaper.

She had already met Yitzhak Rabin, who was an officer in the Palmach, and they married during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

In 1974 her husband became the youngest Israeli prime minister, but his coalition crumbled three years later.

Mrs Rabin counted President Clinton among her friends

Yitzhak Rabin returned to power at the head of a Labour government in 1992.

One year later, he signed the Oslo peace accords with Yasser Arafat, and the two men were awarded the Nobel peace prize, together with Shimon Peres.

Outspoken

Mrs Rabin was at the peace rally where, in 1995, her husband was shot.

After his assassination, she became an outspoken advocate of peace.

Leah Rabin said that Mr Arafat was part of the family

She criticised the then Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, accusing him of creating the violent climate in which her husband was killed.

And she received the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in her home, later telling a German news magazine that he was "part of my family".

In spite of her illness, Mrs Rabin campaigned for her husband's peace ideals until the very end.

Two months ago, she criticised Prime Minister Ehud Barak - whom she once saw as Mr Rabin's political heir - for making too many concessions in the peace process.

"I wanted to believe he is continuing along Yitzhak's path. I backed him all along the way. But after a year and a quarter I must confess, a big part of my hopes have been disappointed," she said.