AFP - Israel on Thursday marked the 14th anniversary of the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin at the hands of a Jewish extremist opposed to peace with the Palestinians.

"Yitzhak's greatness was in his honesty as a leader, both in war and peace," Israeli President Shimon Peres told dignitaries gathered at the Mt. Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem.

Rabin is revered as a national hero, both for his legendary career as army chief and for peace efforts in the 1990s that earned him a Nobel peace prize shared with Peres and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

"I am proud of what we achieved under Yitzhak's leadership, on our journey together, even though the work has not been completed," said Peres.

The agreements engineered by Rabin, Peres and Arafat have largely been undone by the violence of the last decade.

US Middle East envoy George Mitchell attended the ceremony but did not speak.

Mitchell has been trying to get Israeli and Palestinians back to the negotiating table at the behest of President Barak Obama, but so far without success.

Thursday's ceremony marked the anniversary in accordance with the Jewish lunar calendar.

On Saturday a mass rally will be held at the Tel Aviv square where Rabin was gunned down on November 4, 1995 after attending a peace rally.