Settlers: Shin Bet trying to slander us ahead of Rabin memorial

West Bank settlers have accused the Shin Bet security service of trying to slander them ahead of the memorial day marking the 14th anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Rabin was murdered by a right-wing fanatic, Yigal Amir, in November 1995; his memorial day will take place on the 29th of October, the date of the assassination according to this year's Hebrew calendar.

"Every year, when we arrive at the date of Rabin's murder, we find ourselves in a situation where there is a search for settlers in every shape and form," Itzik Shadmy, chairman of the Binyamin regional council, told Haaretz.

He specifically named the Shin Bet as implementing a policy whose goal is to exploit memorial day to slander settlers.

Shadmy added: "It's always possible to find one settler or another whom one can show in a ludicrous light," Shadmy said, "This campaign begins with the left, which hates settlers."

Settlers say that verbal attacks on them around the anniversary have become a yearly ritual, although there have been no serious incidents so far this year.