Shimon Peres spoke to a crowd of thousands at the square where Rabin was gunned down by a Jewish extremist who opposed his peace policies on Nov. 4, 1995.

Along with Rabin, Peres and Abbas were among signatories to the 1993 Oslo peace accord. Peres recalled that accomplishment in an appeal to Abbas at the rally on Saturday night, saying, “I turn to you as a colleague, don’t let go.”

Abbas said Thursday that he would not run for another term in an election scheduled for January, citing deadlocked efforts to revive peace talks.