Rabin Square

Rabin Square is the largest open public square in central Tel Aviv. Over the years, many political rallies and other large public events have been held there. Then known as Kings of Israel Square (Kikar Malchei Yisrael in Hebrew), the square was annually used as an exhibition ground for the Israeli army’s field units on Israel’s Independence Day until the early 1990s. Each year it is the main Tel Aviv venue for the Hebrew Book Week fair.

Located adjacent to Tel Aviv’s City Hall, the square was first paved in 1965 to coincide with the dedication of the building, then considered modern and suited to a city with many skyscrapers. A fountain was also erected within the square at that time. In 1975, Yigal Tumarkin’s Holocaust memorial sculpture found its home in the square.

On the evening of November 4, 1995 a huge peace rally was held there, culminating with the singing of “Shir Hashalom” (“Song of Peace”). Even the normally bashful prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, joined in and sang into the mike that was thrust in front of him. Then, as the rally broke up and people were wending their way out of Kikar Malchei Yisrael, three shots rang out: Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated as he walked with his bodyguards from the stage to his waiting car. The shock was great, and even more so when word got out that the dastardly assassin was a Jew. Thousands of Israelis gathered at the square to commemorate Rabin and simply to commiserate with one another. The young people who came to mourn Rabin lit so many memorial candles that they came to be known as the "Candles Youth." Some of the graffiti they drew on the nearby walls has been preserved, and a memorial stands on the spot where Rabin was assassinated. The square was renamed Rabin Square in his memory.

Renovation plans

From around 1996 or so, there was much criticism about the appearance of Rabin Square, especially City Hall. After years and years of haggling between those who thought it was an awful eyesore that had to be torn down and rebuilt in a style more befitting a modern city and those who felt that it was part of Tel Aviv history that should be preserved, sprucing up of the square was finally executed in 2011, and today Rabin Square looks great as a result of its facelift.