Demonstrators waved banners and lit candles in the same Tel Aviv square where Mr Rabin was gunned down in 1995, and which has been named after him.

The BBC's Andrew Bomford on the rally to remember Rabin

More than 1,000 police kept traffic away from the central square 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 300,000.

Vindication

Leah Rabin: accuses Binyamin Netanyahu of incitement

Mr Rabin's widow Leah hailed the Maryland accord signed last week between Israel and the Palestinians, saying it vindicated Mr Rabin's work for peace.

She congratulated the right-wing government of Binyamin Netanyahu "on finally realising that there is no alternative to the path taken by Yitzhak and that you have to make concessions".

Mr Rabin was shot by an extremist right-wing Jewish student, Yigal Amir, at the end of a rally which had been intended to celebrate progress in the Middle East peace process.

He accused Mr Rabin of being a traitor to the Jewish state.

The huge crowd gathered in Tel Aviv to remember Yitzhak Rabin

Mrs Rabin said Prime Minister Netanyahu - the leader of the opposition Likud party at the time of the assassination - was responsible for creating a climate of incitement that led to the shooting.

She complained that he scorned Mr Rabin for giving away land to the Palestinians, and was still making similar, inaccurate claims today.

Palestinians 'no threat'

She reserved her strongest criticism for Mr Netanyahu's approach to the Palestinians.

"Why draw a picture that the Palestinians are a threat to our existence?" she said.

"They are not. They want peace. They deserve peace. They are entitled to have peace as much as we want and are entitled to have peace."

This year, like Israel itself, the Rabins would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

BBC Jerusalem correspondent Paul Adams says this year's commemoration has acquired an ironic twist, as Mr Netanyahu is now being vilified by the right for giving away land to the Palestinians - just like his predecessor.

Two days of remembrance

The prime minister who paid the ultimate price for pursuing peace is being commemorated in a two-day series of events which began at sundown on Saturday and ends at sundown on Sunday.

Political leaders will return to Rabin's grave for a ceremony

Mr Rabin's office at the Labor Party headquarters in Tel Aviv was being opened to members of the public with an exhibition of photographs and children's drawings on the murder and on the late prime minister's vision of peace.

On Sunday, President Ezer Weizman, and Prime Minister Netanyahu will take part in an official ceremony at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, where Mr Rabin is buried.