Thousands turn out to mark the death of Yitxhak Rabin

Ceremonies are taking place days after Mr Rabin's widow Leah criticised Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for creating what she insists was an atmosphere that led to the shooting of her husband by an extremist right-wing Jewish student.

The student, Yigal Amir, shot Prime Minister Rabin at the end of a rally which had been intended to celebrate progress in the Middle East peace process.

He accused Mr Rabin of being a traitor to the Jewish state.

Leah Rabin: accuses Binyamin Netanyahu of incitement

Mrs Rabin says Prime Minister Netanyahu - then the leader of the opposition Likud party - was responsible for creating a climate of brainwashing and incitement.

She says he scorned Mr Rabin for giving away land to the Palestinians, and is still making similar, inaccurate claims today.

Saturday's huge rally is being held in the same Tel Aviv square where Mr Rabin was gunned down in 1995, and which has been named after him.

Mrs Rabin on peace and politics

Mrs Rabin said Mr Netanyahu had presented the latest peace agreement to the Israeli people as minimising the dangers of the Oslo peace process reluctantly inherited from Mr Rabin.

She accused Mr Netanyahu of saying that Mr Rabin's Labour party planned to hand over 92% of the West Bank to the Palestinians.

The BBC's Paul Royall on the death of Yitzhak Rabin

Mrs Rabin says no such plan was ever endorsed or approved by her late husband.

She reserved her strongest criticism for Mr Netanyahu's approach to the Palestinians.

"Why draw a picture that the Palestinians are a threat to our existence?" she said.

"They are not. They want peace. They deserve peace. They are entitled to have peace as much as we want and are entitled to have peace."

This year, like Israel itself, the Rabins would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Two days of remembrance

The prime minister who paid the ultimate price for pursuing peace is being commemorated in a two-day series of events.

According to the Hebrew calendar, the anniversary runs from sundown on Saturday to sundown on Sunday.

Rabin was mourned by crowds his funeral

Mr Rabin's office at the Labor Party headquarters in Tel Aviv will be opened to members of the public and his widow, Leah Rabin, will inaugurate an exhibition of photographs and children's drawings on the murder and on the late prime minister's vision of peace.

Assembled crowds will hear speeches from Leah Rabin, the Labor Party leader Ehud Barak, former military chief of staff Amnon Shahak and Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai.

On Sunday, President Ezer Weizman, and Prime Minister Netanyahu will take part in an official ceremony at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, where Mr Rabin is buried.