re: #240 windsagio

The Assassination of Rabin

Twenty-five year old Yigal Amir had wanted to kill Yitzhak Rabin for months. Amir, who had grown up as an Orthodox Jew in Israel, believed that Rabin was trying to give Israel back to the Arabs. Thus, Amir viewed Rabin as a traitor, an enemy.

Determined to kill Rabin and hopefully end the Middle East peace talks, Amir took his Beretta pistol and tried to get close to Rabin. After several failed attempts, Amir got lucky on November 4, 1995.

At the Kings of Israel Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, a peace rally in support of Rabin’s peace negotiations was being held. Rabin was going to be there, along with approximately 100,000 supporters.

Amir, who was posing as a VIP driver, sat idly by a flower planter near Rabin’s car as he waited for Rabin. Security agents never double checked Amir’s identity nor questioned Amir’s story.

At the end of the rally, Rabin descended down a set of stairs, heading from city hall to his waiting car. As Rabin passed Amir, who was now standing, Amir fired his gun at Rabin. Three shots rang out at very close range.

Two of the shots hit Rabin; the other hit a security guard. Rabin was rushed to the nearby Ichilov Hospital but his wounds proved too serious. Rabin was soon declared dead.

Immediately after the shooting, Amir was apprehended. Amir confessed to assassinating Rabin and never showed remorse. In March 1996, Amir was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, plus extra years for shooting the security guard.

Netanyahu did not light the terrible flames of that period. Nor did he try to put them out. As is the theme of much of Jewish History, no one thought events would lead where they did. Amir followed his own inner voices. To lay this at the feet of Netanyahu, when Sergey’s video (which I can’t translate) shows the acceleration of a mob mentality, is not at all accurate.