Letters: Dec. 4, 1995

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DEATH OF A PEACEMAKER

"A great man with an even greater dream has been taken away from us. Let us hope Yitzhak Rabin's vision of peace lives on and succeeds." YUVAL SHAMIR Los Angeles

IN WAR, PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN was a genius soldier [COVER STORIES, Nov. 13]. In diplomacy, he was an honorable peacemaker. His untimely demise is a loss not to the world alone but to all humanity. His death shows that peace is worth dying for if it will allow people to coexist in harmony, free from war. DANNY G. ABUCEJO Cerritos, California

THE ACT OF AN ISRAELI'S KILLING RABIN is comparable to an American's gunning down someone essential to the birth and development of the assassin's home nation, someone like a James Madison or Thomas Jefferson. Rabin was more than a head of state: he devoted his life to establishing the state of Israel. BRAD MISLOW Decatur, Georgia

HAVING A RELIGIOUS JEW ASSASSINATE MY Prime Minister was my worst nightmare. It's clear to me that although the holiness of the land of Israel has an important value, it certainly does not outweigh the importance of Jewish unity or of the Commandment that states "Thou shalt not kill." I am a right-wing, religious, Jewish Israeli, and though I represent only my personal views, I think they are shared by many others. I oppose the Oslo accords (which expand Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank) for a simple reason: Israel is compromising the personal security of many of its citizens and also, perhaps, military security. In return, the Palestinians are holding firm to their desire to push the Jews into the sea. I implore Acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres to honor the Bible and refuse to sign future Oslo agreements until the Palestinians change. DEBORAH WUNSCH BACH Haifa, Israel Via E-mail

RABIN'S ASSASSINATION ONLY CONFIRMS how necessary his vision of peace is: too many years of war and terrorism have begun to poison Israel's national spirit. The nation must have peace in this generation, or hatred will destroy the country from within. EILEEN JOYCE Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

PEACE AND FREEDOM FROM VIOLENCE for his people is what Rabin sought. Unfortunately, violence ended his life. To historians Rabin is now in the company of the great leaders. Future generations will remember him as such. DAVE ANAND Trumbull, Connecticut

OPPONENTS OF THE PEACE PROCESS HAVE long argued that the agreement Rabin was orchestrating with the Palestinians was an empty one. I hope that is not the case. A soldier of war and a missionary of peace, Rabin has paid the ultimate price. May Israel have true peace at last. LINDEN JACOBS New York City

THE ASSASSINATION OF THE ISRAELI Prime Minister is sad, but it is a wake-up call for all leaders. Terrorism will continue at the boiling point unless there are drastic changes. Leaders have to listen equally to everyone and not lean to the left or right. If they act in this way, individuals will not find the need to go so far as to commit such heinous crimes to get a point across. WARREN A. KANESHIRO Honolulu