By Signe K. Skinion and Alan Schnepf

After the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin on Saturday, some members of the SIUC community say they believe the Middle East peace process will be slowed by his death.

Rabin, 73, was shot three times at close range by Yigal Amir, 27, a law student at Herzliya near Tel Aviv.

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Leonard Gross, Faculty Advisor for Hillel, said the assassination was an attempt by an extremist to stop Israeli-Arab peace negotiations. He said the death of Rabin should not deter peace efforts.

There are extremists on both sides who oppose peace, and now it is more imperative to push forward on the peace process, Gross said. Israel will be set back and lose credit because of this man’s actions.

Gross said he felt Rabin was a strong Prime Minister and he believes Foreign Minister Simon Peres, who is the interim Prime Minister, will continue in Rabin’s place.

I think Rabin was rather courageous by pushing the peace process and knowing it had to be done, Gross said. Peres has the same basic philosophy as Rabin. He doesn’t have the military background, and doesn’t have the same support, but he wants to see peace and he’s very qualified especially because he was Prime Minister before.

Peres, 73, had long been a rival of Rabin, but recently the two had begun working together for peace, Gross said.

William Hardenbergh, a retired SIUC political science professor, said the Parliament elections will play a major factor in the peace negotiations.

The big question is what’s going to happen in the elections next year. Rabin would have been a stronger force than Peres will be, Hardenbergh said. Likud, the conservative group, has been largely opposed to the peace process, and if they get power in the Parliament back, they may be able to stop the peace process, but they will not be able to reverse it because it is too far.

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Kyle Ismia’il, senior in journalism and President of the Muslim American Student Organization, said he believes the death of Rabin will cause more problems for Israel and peace.

The assassination will set the peace process back a long way because it is a disruption to the process, Ismia’il said. Israel has to find a way to deal with these extremist groups.

John Jackson, III, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said ramifications of the assassination will be hard to overcome, but dealing with the death of a leader is not new to any country.

I felt it was a great loss to the Middle East peace process, and although it is sad, it is not unprecedented. We have had a president assassinated in the U.S., Jackson said. I think it makes peace problematic and difficult, but it may still go forward.

Riazuddin Zobairi, SIUC history professor, said he thinks Peres is the best chance for any hope of peace in the Middle East now that Rabin is dead.

I think he is the most important person on the Palestinian side now, Zobairi said. Rabin was definitely a great person of the modern times, most of the people are sad about his assassination. Peres doesn’t have the same political strength Rabin had, but he is very important especially since he was working with Rabin on the peace efforts. It will take a week to ten days, maybe a month, but the peace process will continue.