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November 17, 2000/Heshvan 19, 5761, Vol. 53, No.8
Leah Rabin dead at 72
NAOMI SEGAL
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - Leah Rabin, widow of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and a leading proponent of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, died at 72 after losing a battle with lung cancer.
"The Middle East has lost a friend of peace," President Clinton said in a statement.
Rabin stood by her husband throughout his military and political careers, and she championed his peace policies after his assassination five years ago.
She died the afternoon of Nov. 12 surrounded by family members.
She is survived by two children, Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, a lawyer who now serves in the Knesset, and Yuval, who founded a peace group after the assassination and now represents an Israeli software firm in the United States. She also leaves behind three grandchildren.
A prominent and sometimes controversial figure in Israeli society, Rabin was born Leah Schlossberg in 1928 in Germany. The day after Hitler rose to power, her family immigrated to what was then called Palestine.
She grew up in Tel Aviv and at the age of 15 met Yitzhak Rabin, then 21 years old.
The two married during the 1948 War of Independence.
She staunchly supported Yitzhak throughout his army and political career.
Following her husband's assassination, Rabin took up the torch for peace, becoming a fierce advocate of his legacy.
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