A local Jewish leader blames Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination on “radical extremists who seek changes through bullets instead of ballots.”

Harvey Lapan, president of the Ames Jewish Congregation, and other Jewish and Christian ISU students and Ames residents gathered Sunday evening for a memorial service at the congregation.

Gunned down at a peace rally Saturday in Tel Aviv, Israel, Rabin’s death shocked the nation as well as the local Jewish population.

“It is a tragedy when people feel so polarized by the issues at hand that they can’t rationally discuss them,” Lapan said. “This is not a productive way to seek changes in the national policy. I hope that in the future, people can find a more positive method to affect the course of political events.”

Dave Archivich, a congregation member, compared Rabin’s assassination to that of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.

“These great leaders risked their lives just like soldiers driving a tank. Rabin’s death is just another incident in the cycle of great leaders devoted to working toward peace whose lives have been taken,” Archivich said.

Archivich said he doesn’t understand the motivation behind Rabin’s assassination.

“It makes us more aware of the fanaticism on the left and right sides in Israeli politics — I’m really bothered by that. Rabin had the credibility to search for a workable peace. It is hard to understand why his life should be taken for that,” he said.

Archivich said he hopes Israeli and Palestinian leaders can continue to move toward peace.

“I don’t think Rabin’s death will affect the long-term peace process in the Middle East, but it will surely cause some security problems in the future,” he said.

“I am sad and shocked by his sudden death, but I think that the peace process in Israel will definitely go on,” added Ron Jackson, a psychologist for Iowa State Student Counseling Services and a member of the Ames Jewish Congregation.

Carol Kosmicke, an ISU sophomore majoring in biochemistry and a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church, was one of many non-Jewish students who attended the service. She said most Ames churches encouraged people of all faiths to support the Jewish population by attending the service.

“As a Christian, I am deeply saddened by the loss our Jewish brothers and sisters had to endure. I hope Israel will be able to make peace from this terrible loss they’ve suffered,” she said. “I have confidence that this will strengthen and not hurt the Middle Eastern peace process.”

Kosmicke said division is the last thing Israel needs at this point in the peace process.

“I hope the people of Israel will be able to find some common ground and work out their differences to work for a long-term peace,” she said.