Barak Appeals to Arafat to Stop Bloodshed.

By Laurie Kassman (VOA-Tel Aviv)

Prime Minister Barak said he remains committed to the peace process and will not give into violence. He made the remark in the Tel Aviv plaza where tens of thousands had gathered to honor the memory of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who was gunned

Barak called again on Arafat to help end the violence that has engulfed the West Bank and Gaza for the past five weeks. Speaking through an interpreter, Barak said, "From here, in your names, I call to Yasir Arafat. You who shook the hand of Yitzhak Rabin, don't allow the extremists to lead you into the path of pain and acrimony for both people. You can put an end to the violence, an end to this cycle of blood."

Barak said his goal is to achieve a settlement with the Palestinians through negotiations, not through force. "In these days, we say to ourselves it is not enough to want peace, not enough to talk peace or dream peace, you have to do it," he added.

Rabin was assassinated five years ago by a right-wing student opposed to his policies. The soldier-turned-peacemaker signed the 1993 landmark interim peace accord with Arafat that gave Palestinians self-rule. And, it gave Israelis and Palestinians a plan for negotiating a final peace deal.

Rabin's widow was not able to attend the ceremony because of illness. Security police were on high alert after a car bomb exploded last week near a busy Jerusalem market.