Israel Matzav

Rabin's death: The coverup continues

It's that week again.

Fifteen years ago on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was murdered in Tel Aviv. Beyond that bald statement, nearly everything can be disputed.

In a fit of hysteria, 20-something year-old Yigal Amir was convicted of the assassination. It seemed to be an open and shut case. Amir was seen on camera shooting Rabin in the back. You can watch the video and other videos of that night in 1995 here. No lawyer wanted to defend Amir, and he was quickly tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole (the death penalty here is only for traitors and Nazis).

But was he guilty? If you read this account, mostly a consolidation of emails received from a doctor friend of mine, you will start to wonder. The video shows Amir shooting Rabin in the back, but Rabin was admitted to the hospital with frontal wounds. The number of bullets didn't match what was in the video. It is undisputed that when the bullets were fired, someone yelled 'srak srak' (blanks, blanks). And it is undisputed that Mrs. Rabin (who has since passed away) was told that her husband was not hit and that he was fine. None of these points was ever investigated. MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima) was correct when he said that 'the public' doesn't want to examine the assassination - at least if one defines 'the public' as those who hold positions of power within the judicial system. Ironically, the only people in Israel who really want to investigate the Rabin assassination are those on the Right who wish to see the Right's name cleared of responsibility for the Rabin assassination. Since 1995, the assassination has been used by the Left to vilify the Right, and in particular the current Prime Minister, who was then the opposition leader and whom it accused of incitement (which is why you won't hear a word against the 'consensus' from Prime Minister Netanyahu).

That's why no one is interested in expunging the record of Margalit Har Shefi, despite the fact that her conviction was based on lies. Many people are afraid of what can of worms we might open if we re-examine Har Shefi's conviction. The claim (which is made in Monday's Yisrael HaYom, which was handed to me at the entrance to the city) that we cannot examine Har Shefi's conviction because it might lead to a demand to pardon Yigal Amir, is partly true. But that's not the real concern. The real concern is who else might be implicated in Rabin's murder if we challenge the 1995 version of events.

I don't know who else was involved. But I can tell you that you wouldn't have to be Perry Mason to convince a jury that there is reasonable doubt that Amir was the murderer. But there are no juries in Israel. And for now, at least, those who are in power are afraid to give Amir a real trial with a real lawyer to defend him.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:32 PM