I am proud of what I did, says Rabin murder accomplice as he walks free

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Independent

I am proud of what I did, says Rabin murder accomplice as he walks free
Catrina Stewart
Jerusalem
Saturday 05 May 2012

The brother of the man who murdered the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin walked free yesterday after 16-and-a-half years in jail for being an accomplice, declaring that he was "proud" of what he did.

Hagai Amir, 43, conspired with his brother, Yigal, to assassinate Rabin in retaliation for his efforts to seek peace with the Palestinians and cede parts of the biblical heartland in the West Bank and Gaza.

His brother, an ultra-nationalist Jew, who is serving a life sentence in a high-security jail, fired three rounds into Rabin at a peace rally in Tel Aviv in 1995. His actions helped set in motion the events that would bring a right-wing government back to power.

Ahead of Amir's release early yesterday, peace activists gathered outside the prison, chanting "Disgrace" and "We won't forgive, we won't forget". As family members led the former prisoner to a car, he held his fingers aloft in a V for victory sign and told Israeli radio: "I am not regretful. I am proud of what I did." He was to spend his first night of freedom in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.

More:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/i-am-proud-of-what-i-did-says-rabin-murder-accomplice-as-he-walks-free-7715651.html

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/i-am-proud-of-what-i-did-says-rabin-murder-accomplice-as-he-walks-free-7715651.html

[Ken Burch]

1. The blood of everyone who has died in the I/P dispute since Rabin's murder

Is on the hands of the Amir brothers. The Israeli government should deport Hagai Amir immediately. It won't, however, because that government is only in power BECAUSE of what the Amir brothers did. Bibi probably sends them a thank-you note every year.

[cynatnite]

2. Agreed. n/t

[Blue_Tires]

4. +1000

[Posteritatis]

6. Ugh, yeah. It felt like they were edging towards something when Rabin died, too.

So much lost time because of that.

[applegrove]

9. Yup. The Amir brothers wanted the bloodshed since. They are sadistic.

[Ron Obvious]

17. Not sadistic...

Not sadistic -- True Believers. That's scarier in my opinion.

[Ken Burch]

18. Yeah...definitely "in blood and fire Judea was born" types. n/t.

[applegrove]

20. Which is sadistic. They want to see bloodshed of the enemies.

[Ken Burch]

22. The distinction is, though, that sadists inflict pain because they enjoy doing that.

True Believers don't necessarily enjoy it...they just see it as that which is commanded by whatever deity they may believe in. Often, they are quite dispassionate about the suffering they cause.

[applegrove]

23. You are right.

[harmonicon]

12. Exactly.

Almost every government since Rabin's assassination wouldn't have been possible without it. Maybe I was young and naive, but at the time I really thought there was going to be peace, and possibly even something resembling justice for both sides.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. What nationality does Amir have, apart from Israeli?

To where would they deport him?

[Ken Burch]

21. There are precedents for stripping a person of their citizenship for being a terrorist.

If Hagai Amir gets to stay in the country, after conspiring to kill one prime minister(Rabin) and threatening another(Sharon), he wins.

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. That doesn't create another nationality, though; who would be forced to take him?

If someone has dual nationality, one country can strip their nationality from him, frogmarch him onto a plane, and tell the other country he's their problem. But if he only has the one, you can't just tell another country to accept him - which is what deporting is. Even if a country decides to strip the only nationality from a person (so that he can't have a passport, or vote, or similar things), they're still left holding the baby, so to speak. If he's served his sentence, then he's back in public.

If they ignored habeas corpus, they could throw him in prison again, without a trial. But I think Israel would have constitutional problems with that.

Or another country could volunteer to take him in. But who wants a murderous Israeli fanatic?

[Ken Burch]

7. Why? Bibi OWES him.

It's as simple as that. No Rabin assassination, no Netanyahu comeback.

Just like Nixon owed whoever wasted RFK.

[LarryNM]

8. Agreed

He is obviously Not Reformed.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. The blame should go to whoever sentenced him 16 years ago

or those in 2006, who only extended the sentence by half a year for a threat to arrange the killing of Sharon.

Amir was originally sentenced to 16 years, but that time was extended by six months after he was convicted of threatening the life of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2006. He spent most of his prison years in isolation.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gbaioCQG5QxA5erdOvgZQQVKWZhg?docId=4b52bae9e6364c76a29f0b9aef9db027

When you say "he could be kept in for life", are you saying that someone - a judge? a politician? - should be able to overrule the original sentence?

[Behind the Aegis]

16. Israel has only executed two people, Meir Tobianski (1948) and Adolf Eichmann (1962).

[Ken Burch]

19. And unlike Eichmann or the Amir brothers, Tobiansky was innocent

Isser Be'eri KNEW he was innocent throughout the drumhead trial, but did nothing to stop Tobiansky's murder.

As to Amir, even if he's not to be executed, he clearly deserves a life sentence without parole for his actions. You can't just let somebody walk the streets after he conspires in the assassination of a head of government. Allowing Amir to be freed is letting him, effectively, win.

Hagai Amir should be treated EXACTLY like a Palestinian who helped murder an Israeli prime minister would have been treated.
Agreed?

[Crunchy Frog]

5. Ick.

That's about all I have to say.

[kestrel91316]

11. Don't count on him living to 44.