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Last update - 09:50 26/10/2009
Rabin's widow calls Netanyahu a 'nightmare' in decade-old letter
By Amir Oren
Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu 

Leah Rabin, the late widow of assassinated premier Yitzhak Rabin, used words such as "nightmare," "monstrosity," "corrupt" and "liar" to describe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in letters she wrote over a decade ago that have recently been obtained by Haaretz.

In an election held the spring after Rabin's November 1995 death, Netanyahu narrowly beat his replacement, Shimon Peres, and served as prime minister from 1996-1999. Leah Rabin's letters, sent to an old friend, were written in the final months of Netanyahu's term, from fall 1998 through spring 1999. They are being published here for the first time in advance of the 14th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's death, which will be observed Thursday. Leah Rabin died in 2000.

In November 1998, about two weeks after the third anniversary of the assassination, Leah wrote: "I hope, pray, that the days of this government are numbered. Benjamin Netanyahu is a corrupt individual, a contentious liar who is ruining everything that is good about our society. He is breaking it to bits, and in the future, we will have to rebuild it all over."
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In March 1999, she wrote in a similar vein: "We all want this nightmare to end, that this monstrosity called Netanyahu will get lost, because he exhausted our patience a long time ago."

In her letters, she expressed hope for a Labor victory in the 1999 election and sorrow over the establishment of a new party, the Center Party, on whose slate the Rabins' daughter, Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, was running for Knesset. Labor, led by Ehud Barak, did in fact win, and Rabin-Pelossof became a deputy minister in Barak's government. But in this year's election, the Rabins' son, Yuval Rabin, publicly supported Netanyahu in his rematch against Barak.

Leah also stressed in her letters that her husband had always opposed the settlements and supported giving up the West Bank.

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      1.   Simply - she is just right! 02:16  |  Robin 26/10/09
      2.   Did we need Leah and a second term to know him? 02:23  |  Fortuna Benmayor 26/10/09
      3.   ...and? 02:52  |  blash 26/10/09
      4.   Thank you, Mrs. Rabin. May God bless your soul. 04:03  |  Rachel Rabin 26/10/09
      5.   Consider the source 04:43  |  yodea ta`alumot 26/10/09
      6.   The emperor Bibi has not clothes - Says Leah Rabin 05:17  |  Ed 26/10/09
      7.   bibi and.... barak 06:14  |  eldar 26/10/09
      8.   Rabin On Road to Peace: Netanyahu Leads to War 06:33  |  Vladek 26/10/09
      9.   Leah`s Husband Liberated Jerusalem from arabs occupation . 06:33  |  Joseph .E 26/10/09
      10.   Bib`s character is well known to those that want to know 06:55  |  rumplestilski 26/10/09
      11.   a mistake 07:39  |  Esther Sherman 26/10/09
      12.   Who was the lady 07:42  |  Boris 26/10/09
      13.   joe 08:16  |  wilson 26/10/09
      14.   Rabin 08:25  |  harvey 26/10/09
      15.   100% 08:29  |  Arnon 26/10/09
      16.   Lea Rabin called Netanyahu a `nightmare` 08:36  |  Disgusted 26/10/09
      17.   Cunning stunt by Leah Rabin 08:42  |  Justin Adayid 26/10/09
      18.   Rabin instigated our nightmare. 08:49  |  fredyr 26/10/09
      19.   So?? 08:54  |  Jay 26/10/09
      20.   Leah rab8in was a very clever person 09:31  |  dani.a 26/10/09
      21.   It has always been beyond my comprehension.... 09:57  |  Swiss (Dino) 26/10/09
      22.   Nightmares 10:20  |  Arieh Zimmerman 26/10/09
      23.   And the Rabin festival begins 11:11  |  g.e. 26/10/09
      24.   Yuval Rabin endorsed 12:36  |  Rocky 26/10/09
      25.   corruption 12:41  |  Jay 26/10/09
      26.   leahs letters 13:45  |  Dr, Nina Zeldis 26/10/09
      27.   For the record . . . 14:01  |  Zev Davis 26/10/09
      28.   it takes one to know one 14:06  |  doesn`t it 26/10/09
      29.   Disgusted on Lea Rabin and Itzhak Rabin 14:06  |  Maureen 26/10/09
      30.   #13 dani on rabin and peres 14:10  |  Daniel 26/10/09
      31.   Netanyahu,s MO was to demand that he pick the 14:16  |  Labhras 26/10/09
      32.   That`s strange... 14:47  |  Walter 26/10/09
      33.   Rabin`s Assissination- Beginning of the Turn 15:26  |  Stephen 26/10/09
      34.   Here`s the Promo 15:40  |  eva 26/10/09
      35.   Thank you, Mrs. Rabin. May God bless your soul. 16:12  |  Rachel Rabin 26/10/09
      36.   Mrs Rabin versus Netanyahu 17:14  |  Jan Bresky 26/10/09
      37.   Rabin brought us the nightmare it was called oslo 18:27  |  zionist forever 26/10/09
      38.   # 16 well disgusted, your assessment of her, real or contrived 18:47  |  eric 26/10/09
      39.   its easy to make martyrs of the dead to condemn the living 20:02  |  zionist forever 26/10/09
      40.   Rabin`s Real Murderer at Large 23:03  |  Avi 26/10/09
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