Rabin's grandson: Support for Amir horrifying
Grandson of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shocked by results of poll indicating 1 in 3 Israelis think murderer Yigal Amir should be pardoned: ‘I find this hard to believe.' Justice Minister: Amir should rot in jail until end of his days
Yonatan Ben-Artzi, the former PM’s grandson, said it was difficult for him to believe that such a high percent supported amnesty for Yigal Amir, Rabin’s convicted killer.
“I don’t know how this poll was carried out, and I’d like to learn the data,” Ben-Artzi told Ynet. “I live in this country, I hear how people talk, and therefore I find it hard to believe.
“If the poll results are true, it is simply horrifying,” he added.
Sheetrit: ‘He should rot in jail’
Among the political echelons, there was also a severe response to the survey results.
Acting Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit told Ynet, “I don’t think there’s room to pardon such a crazy murderer. I certainly hope it won’t be on the agenda – that would be a disgrace.
"The man murdered a prime minister, and a Jew who murders a prime minister just due to ideology needs to rot in jail until the end of his days.”
Sheetrit declared the poll would have no effect on management of the affair. “Nothing in this country, and certainly not the amnesty system, operates according to poll results. We do what is right, not what the polls say,” he said.
'Contempt for human life'
Knesset Member Benyamin Elon said that the poll's "serious findings" represent "an educational failure."
He stated that "instead of talking and understanding each other, the Left and the Right fight over everything and do injustice to the public. The survey attests to one of these injustices. This is a serious finding and everyone should do some soul searching. Especially the Left. When the Right expresses shock over the murder, leftists claim the sentiment isn't authentic."
Elon added that "the survey's results are a sign of destruction. This is the beginning of our end. If we don't regain our senses, we'll reach civil war. The Left implicated the entire Right with the murder, and now idiotic people think it's okay to commit murder. Ahead of the killing's anniversary, I advise the Left to be watchful of indiscriminate attacks against the Right."
Knesset Member Arieh Eldad said that "the poll reflects a widespread phenomenon of contempt for human life."
"We can't ignore the fact that the State of Israel releases prisoners in great numbers, even those who committed murder. They're even talking about freeing a murderer like (Marwan) Barghouti. The third of the people that agrees to Yigal Amir's release are those for whom human life is of no value… I personally do not distinguish between the prime minister's killer and the killers of the tourism minister – every murderer should pay the price to his last day," Eldad said.
