Israeli Mayor: Partners of Rabin's Assassin Now Rule Israel

Adi Eldar, mayor of the northern Israeli city of Carmiel, has accused senior government officials of cooperation and responsibility in the murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. At a ceremony on Sunday marking the 20th anniversary of the assassination, Eldar said that murderer Yigal Amir’s partners are now ruling the country.

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“The militant right – this is who pursued Rabin everywhere and incited, who initiated the pulsa denura [mystical Jewish ritual] of curses that he should die. And there was one idiot who carried out the verdict ... One, you don’t need many. But you must always remember that with that finger of his that pulled the trigger of the pistol, there were many fingers who are today in power in the State of Israel. We will not try to prettify this," said Eldar. "They were partners in pulling the trigger [of the gun] that shot Rabin in the back."

Eldar, a member of the Labor Party, has served as mayor of Carmiel for 27 years and was considered to be close to Rabin. In addition, for 15 years he served as head of the Union of Local Authorities, and as such had been involved in organizing memorial events for the late prime minister.

Eldar has spoken out in a similar fashion in the past, for example at a 2002 memorial event for Rabin at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. At that time he said that while murderer Amir had received his punishment, “many fingers pulled the trigger and there was an obvious background to the murder. These fingers were not punished and were not put on trial. In another country, these people would have paid the price.”

Eldar said about his remarks on the subject on Sunday: “I stand behind what I said, there is nothing new in them. During the period that preceded the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, of blessed memory, the prime minister of Israel, at the hands of a Jew – there were many who incited against him, who dressed [him] in a Nazi uniform, who called a pulsa denura on him. There is nothing new under the sun, as other people have said too.

"I will repeat myself and say: It was not just one hand that pulled the trigger. These things receive further support during these difficult days. The extreme movements that acted then are here today too. There is one way to peace; it is the way of dialogue and not of hot-headedness or incitement. Israel's leadership must demonstrate responsibility, determination and courage, and eliminate any display of incitement and violence from any side.”