The transformation of Israel's main memorial event in honor of Yitzhak Rabin into a youth movement event titled “Remembering the Assassination, Preserving Democracy” is a perfect representation of the place Rabin's legacy has among the Israeli public 18 years after his assassination (Nov. 4, 1995).

Some 35,000 people gathered in Rabin Square, in the center of Tel Aviv, for the event on the night of Oct. 12. Most were youth movement members, both right and left wing. In other words, a large number of the attendees were not even born at the time of the assassination. Inevitably, they became the subject of intense discussion during current-event TV and radio shows the next morning. Studio discussions dealt with the general question of what happened to Rabin's legacy, the relative dearth of participants as compared with previous years and the reason why senior political figures and the general public alike were absent from this year's memorial, especially when compared with years past.

The general tone was critical and expressed a kind of longing for the way the assassination was marked in the early years. Back then, assembling tens of thousands of participants who were joined by political leaders from the left and the entire Rabin family needed no organization — while the event itself was broadcast on every channel imaginable.

In an interview on the Israeli Army radio station — with the event's moderator, actor Moshe Ivgi — anchor Niv Raskin tried to get him to compare the enormous funeral for Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, which took place on Oct. 7, and the significantly more modest event to commemorate a prime minister who was killed because of his efforts to achieve peace. Luckily, Ivgi was both wise and seasoned enough to avoid falling into that easily refuted populist trap.