Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have attended a memorial service in Tel Aviv to mark the third anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and to show their support for the peace process.

Demonstrators waved banners and lit candles as Mr Rabin's widow Leah hailed the Maryland accord signed last week between Israel and the Palestinians.

She said it vindicated Mr Rabin's work for peace.

More than a thousand police kept traffic away from the central square now named after him, and cars were barred from parking nearby for fear of bomb attacks.

Rally organisers said the gathering was one of the biggest in Israel's history, with one estimate putting the crowd at three hundred-thousand.

Mr Rabin was shot in 1995 by a right-wing Jewish extremist opposed to the land for peace deal with the Palestinians.