Plotted to kill Rabin as early as 1993. Yigal Amir
צילום: גיל יוחנן
'Yigal Amir was not driven by incitement'
Family of Rabin’s killer says 1995 shooting not a result of rampant incitement; younger brother Amitai: Yigal plotted to kill Rabin as early as 1993, after Oslo; remarks come after Attorney General Mazuz says no evidence assassination outcome of incitement
The family of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s killer Yigal Amir said Wednesday the assassination was in no way a result of right-wing incitement.
The statement came as a response to comments made by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, who recently said, “It has not been proven that the 1995 assassination was the outcome of incitement.”
Yigal Amir’s brother, Amitai, said, “The family supports Mazuz’s remarks. Yigal was not driven by any kind of incitement, and the fact that Yigal plotted to kill Rabin as early as 1993, after the signing of the Oslo agreement, is proof of this.”
Yigal Amir’s wife, Larisa Trembovler, said that all throughout his interrogation and trial her husband never claimed he was impelled to commit the act.
“Yigal has long since contended he acted as a result of information he had acquired and not because he was incited,” she said.
“He told me that there is no connection between incitement and cases such as this, even today.”
'A crazy person may be influenced by incitement'
According to Trembovler, Yigal was never even aware the 1995 Pulsa Dinura (death curse) ceremony against Rabin had taken place.
“Yigal received word of the ceremony only after he was arrested,” she said.
“His reason (for carrying out the assassination) was despair and a felling that freedom of speech was being obstructed. He claimed the media did not cover any of his protests, and he was distressed by the fact that his actions had no influence. He realized that only illegitimate acts could make a difference.”
The Amir family claimed Yigal had attempted to murder Rabin four times prior to the November 1995 shooting.
“The first time was in Kfar Shmariyahu and the second time was in Yad Vashem, but because he was not certain of his success he returned home, ” Amitai Amir said.
“Yigal’s attempts continued regardless of the rampant incitement. A crazy person may be influenced by incitement, but a rational person wouldn’t. Yigal always laughed at the claim that he was driven by incitement – he said he had planned the act way before the word ‘incitement’ made the headlines.”
