1
Yitzhak Rabin went through a very
difficult time before he was assassinated.
That's when I admired him most.
Why?
There was tremendous propaganda
against the Oslo Accords.
They made a coffin
and dressed his effigy
in SS uniform, Nazi uniform.
And I saw how he took it,
with extraordinary courage.
That was inspiring.
He didn't back down,
he wasn't afraid.
One day we passed
the Wingate Institute
and people spat
and shouted at him.
Amazing.
He acted like he didn't care.
Not that he wasn't worried...
but he felt that support
for Oslo had diminished
and if elections were held...
we probably wouldn't win.
That's why we decided
to hold that rally,
that gathering...
in what's now called Rabin Square.
Were you afraid people wouldn't come?
He was desperate.
He didn't think people would come.
When we got to the rally
he was stunned to see...
the hundreds of thousands
of people...
and the unprecedented
excitement and enthusiasm.
We stood on the balcony
of City Hall.
Beneath us was a pool...
and the youngsters jumped into
the water shouting, Rabin! Rabin!
Peace! Oslo!
He was beside himself.
Everything went smoothly...
and then that gentleman came along,
the assassin.
There are all sorts of conspiracy theories.
What do you think?
You were closest to the events.
My opinion is
that sedition was in the air...
not organized sedition,
but the atmosphere made it possible.
How did it manifest?
They dressed his effigy
in Nazi uniform.
They carried a coffin marked
Here lies Rabin.
They spat at him, shouted at him,
swore at him.
It was horrible.
Did he talk to you about it?
I saw it for myself.
They did the same to me,
but with him it was horrifying.
Horrifying.
One problem was what to do
about it afterwards.
I could've turned it into a civil war.
Shimon, I'd like to go back
to the murder and the sedition
since they have implications
on the current situation.
That is, whenever Israeli leaders
make concessions
based on their historical perspective
in order to come to agreements,
all hell breaks loose.
We've even seen recently -
I spoke to Dalia Rabin,
and she said that on Facebook,
to this day,
over 20 years later,
people still slander Rabin.
Going back to the sedition
of 20 years ago,
how did you feel
as the people initiating a process
intended to create peace
with the Palestinians?
We refused to back down.
Even if we thought
we might have to pay a dear price.
If you send out a soldier,
he may get killed,
and the same is true of a leader.
There's no difference.
I knew it might lead to catastrophe...
but in terms of propaganda,
the Likud outdid us.
Where did the negative elements
like Yigal Amir come from?
Where in Israeli society?
He was a religious fellow...
he was even a yeshiva student,
and he absorbed all the propaganda
against dividing Israel.
It was the continuation of the debate
over the partition plan.
Now back to Rabin.
How do you see his last days?
The threat made him
even more determined.
I said that to begin with.
That was when I most admired Rabin
because of his ability
to stand up to the threats.
How did that manifest?
For instance, he gave up no ground.
He didn't cancel one meeting.
He didn't cancel one appearance.
He paid no attention when people
shouted at him and derided him.
He acted as if it didn't concern him...
and he carried on.
He gave up no ground.
No ground. That's the test.
If Yitzhak Rabin hadn't been assassinated,
would we have achieved -
maybe not peace,
but a more stable situation?
Yes.
Permit me to say
that I too am deeply moved.
I wish to thank each
and every one of you
for coming here to take a stand
against violence and for peace.
This government...
which I am privileged to head...
together with my friend Shimon Peres...
decided to give peace a chance,
a peace that will solve most
of Israel's problems.
I was a military man for 27 years.
I fought as long
as there was no chance for peace.
I believe that
there is now a chance for peace,
a great chance...
and we must take advantage of it...
for the sake of those standing here
and for those who are not here,
and they are many.
I've always believed that the majority
of the people want peace
and are willing
to take risks for peace...
and you here,
by attending this rally,
demonstrate, together with many others
who did not come,
that the people truly desire peace.
It's odd
that the footage
of this horrific event
which someone filmed
is in our hands now.
The assassin managed to stay,
unnoticed, for 40 minutes
in what was supposed to be
a sterile zone.
The obvious conclusion
is that security was disregarded
in the northern parking lot...
the crowd there was unsupervised
as were the pedestrians
coming from the east and the west...
the lighting in the parking lot,
the roof of the City Garden mall...
and everything else
having to do with the area.
Everyone knew that it would be used
by the prime minister,
the foreign minister,
all the dignitaries,
it was the passageway
between the restricted stage area
and the guarded car,
everyone knew it.
A very dangerous zone
that required special attention.
There was none whatsoever.
Back on-the-record
for protocol's sake
about the chain of events
on November 4
from the moment
you arrived at the square.
I arrived at the square
in the evening
at around 7:30 or so.
As soon as I got there I thought
about the best place to film from,
and I decided that the best place was
as close to the stage as possible.
That's where I set up.
It was very crowded.
There were lots of people,
which is why I stayed there
most of the time.
The most important thing was
to film Yitzhak Rabin's speech.
I filmed Rabin's speech.
I was very pleased.
And afterwards I decided
there was no point staying there.
It was very crowded,
people were pushing
and there was no point staying
for the musical performances
because that wasn't
the important part of the film.
So I left and started looking for a place
to film the last footage of the rally.
I turned around
and saw the prime minister's
big official state car.
I think.
I don't know whose it is.
A government vehicle.
At that point,
after the prime minister's speech,
where were you standing?
I was still down below, but
I had a feeling
that I wasn't welcome there.
And it wasn't a good angle either.
It was very crowded.
We can see the camera wobble.
The police didn't tell me not to go up.
I wasn't considered suspicious.
Later, when I went up,
I started filming.
I went up on the City Garden roof.
- How did you go up?
- Through the mall.
Not through the VIP exit.
Not that way.
What did you do up there?
I started filming and I saw
how disorganized it was
and for some reason
I had a bad feeling.
I can't explain why.
I want to show you
a diagram of the site.
Come with us to the archive, please.
Were there any other police here
besides the security guard you mentioned?
I think there were
two plainclothes policemen.
- One approached me.
- What did he say to you?
The policeman was the one
who stressed me out.
He was fine.
He questioned me,
asked what I was doing there,
where I was filming.
He inspected my camera
for anything unusual.
He asked for my ID
and all my details.
I asked him,
Don't you see what's going on here?
He didn't like my question.
I'm not sure
I used those exact words.
Anyway, then he told me,
You can film everything,
but only film Rabin
as he gets into the car.
Don't film him coming down the steps.
After he said that,
you can understand how I felt.
I started imagining all sorts of things
after I heard that.
What did you say to him?
I said...
Look, I don't think -
I don't think you have the right
to tell me what to film.
Is something secret going on here?
He said,
There's nothing secret going on,
but if you keep insisting,
I can make you leave.
I said, lf you want to get rid of me,
get rid of me,
but I'll complain to the police.
I don't think you have the right
to tell me what to do.
Then he said, Okay, fine.
He gave in
and told me to stay there...
and that's where I shot the footage.
How did you feel as you filmed it?
After I spoke to the policeman...
I started picturing
some very ugly scenarios.
Not only because the policeman
made me think bad thoughts.
It was also the atmosphere,
the disorder,
the intense darkness.
And also because
of what the policeman told me.
But mainly because of the atmosphere.
It made me think
that bad things could happen.
It had a very powerful,
emotional impact on me...
and I realized that I might
or I was liable
or -
to film in a totally different way.
In what way?
I looked through the viewfinder,
wondering if someone like that
was out there, God forbid...
and then I focused on Yigal Amir.
I looked to see
if he seemed suspicious.
In the end I decided:
He isn't.
He must be a plainclothes cop.
A plainclothes cop just spoke to me
so he must be one too.
I want to tell you,
with all due respect
for your impartial attitude,
it's time to take off
the velvet gloves.
A bunch of incompetents is leading us on
and the truth is here
in black and white.
Greetings from Tel-Ad Studios
in Jerusalem.
We have an announcement.
About half an hour ago,
after the solidarity rally
in Tel Aviv's Kings Square,
there was an attempt
on Yitzhak Rabin's life.
Three gunshots were fired at him
and the gunman was captured.
The prime minister was taken
to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.
His condition is unknown at this point.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
was wounded tonight
by two or three gunshots
at the end of the peace rally
in Tel Aviv's Kings Square.
No one knows what
the prime minister's true condition is
but since he's
on the operating table...
we can assume
that Yitzhak Rabin is badly wounded.
There were gunshots in Kings Square
a few moments ago.
So far we know
that the prime minister was shot
and evacuated to Ichilov Hospital.
...his right foot into the car
and suddenly gunshots rang out.
- Was he hit?
- No. I saw that Rabin wasn't hit.
The prime minister was shot
in his upper torso but not his head.
His condition is critical but stable,
right, Smadar?
The good news is that
the prime minister's condition
is critical but stable.
I'm entering the station
with the suspect.
Hurry up. Bring him in.
Move it.
Who's running the registry?
- Who's running the registry?
- I'm here.
Stand up straight.
- Can I have this?
- Take it.
- What's your last name?
- Amir.
What?
Amir?
- First name?
- Yigal.
ID number?
023 789 42.
Where's the serial number of his gun?
His gun -
- Don't you know where it is?
- No, it was chaotic.
Where's the gun?
- I need the serial number.
- What do you mean, where's the gun?
- We don't know.
- Wait a minute.
- What's your father's name?
- Shlomo.
- What?
- Shlomo.
- Your mother's name?
- Geula.
Okay. Take him away.
- Any identifying marks or scars?
- No.
Tattoos?
Dentures?
Bring him to her.
Right hand, please.
- Can I have a man do this?
- No.
It's not your decision today.
Index finger.
Thumb.
Call Dr. Barbash, now.
What's your name?
- What's your name?
- Yigal Amir.
Empty his pockets, please.
Where's the gun?
Misha, the registrar?
Where's the gun?
Empty his pockets.
- He has side pockets. Skullcap.
- Here's his wallet.
- Can I have my skullcap, please?
- Search him again.
- My skullcap?
- No, you can't have it now.
Here is the report.
- Ten.
- Saliva tube.
Here we see the director
of Ichilov Hospital,
Professor Gabi Barbash.
What's the prime minister's condition?
He arrived at the hospital
immediately after the incident
with no pulse
and no blood pressure.
He was flatlining.
He was brought into the CPR room
and given a blood transfusion.
He was diagnosed with chest
and stomach wounds.
A drain was inserted
since the chest wound
is putting pressure on the lung.
In order to relieve the pressure,
a drain was inserted
and he's now being taken
to the operating room.
He's sustained
a multi-systemic wound,
large blood vessels
in the chest and stomach
as well as
a severe spinal column wound.
Take that scumbag to interrogation.
Bring him into the interrogation room.
No solid information yet,
we'll put this very cautiously
but it seems,
according to reliable sources,
Bar-Ilan University employees
have identified the assassin.
He's a young religious student
at Bar-Ilan University,
a law student.
Word is that his first name is Yigal
but I can't say for sure.
The man who shot the prime minister
is Yigal Amir,
a single 26-year-old
from Herzliya.
He's a member of Eyal,
a radical right-wing movement.
Hear, O Israel,
the Lord is our God -
Here at Ichilov Hospital, Haim,
it's pandemonium and panic.
Dozens of vehicles are barreling in
with sirens blasting.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres,
President Weizmann,
the prime minister's wife,
Leah Rabin,
cabinet ministers, Knesset members,
defense force agents, secret service agents,
are constantly arriving,
and we're gathered
at the hospital entrance.
The police are keeping us at bay,
not letting us any closer,
pushing away the dozens of camera crews
from all over the world.
Everyone is distraught.
As we mentioned,
a Jewish vengeance organization
has taken responsibility for the attack,
in a beeper message
sent directly after the shooting,
the Jewish vengeance organization stated,
We missed this time,
but maybe we'll do better next time.
The government of Israel announces
in dismay,
in great sadness, and in deep sorrow,
the death of Prime Minister
and Defense Minister
Yitzhak Rabin,
who was shot by an assassin -
- Rabin is dead!
- tonight in Tel Aviv.
May his memory be blessed.
Eitan Haber has just announced
that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is dead.
More than that, Yaakov,
I cannot say.
The time is now 11:15 PM.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is dead.
He was murdered in the battle
for peace.
The soldier who fought many wars
was murdered in the battle
for peace.
And he wasn't able to -
By your leave, holy congregation,
we'll begin the Pulsa diNura ceremony.
Before Yom Kippur
we were informed
that the government
of the villain Yitzhak Rabin
is not only handing over Hebron,
the city of our forefathers, to our enemies,
it is even giving them
control of the Jewish cemetery there.
When I heard that,
I knew that no holds were barred.
The Pulsa diNura curse comes
from the Talmud
and was only cast twice
since the Middle Ages, against Trotsky,
and now, against Yitzhak Rabin.
The prime minister is the enemy
of the people
and he will find his death
in less than a month from now.
And upon him,
Yitzhak son of Rosa Cohen,
known as Yitzhak Rabin,
we have leave to call upon
the Angels of Destruction
to wield their swords
against this evil man
and the Angels of Destruction,
emissaries of the Lower Regions,
have no right to pity him
or forgive his sins.
And may all the curses
be upon him, amen!
And may all the curses
be upon him, amen!
Good morning.
Mr. Nolte,
please call on the next witness,
Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Please state your name,
ID number
and position.
Michael Ben-Yair.
ID number 10 38 67 47.
I am the current attorney general.
It's my duty to warn you
that you must speak the truth,
the whole truth
and nothing but the truth,
or you may be punished
as prescribed by law.
Please tell us what was written
in the letter by Major General Y. Levy,
Israel Police head of investigations.
Major General Y. Levy asked me
to conduct an investigation
concerning complaints
against a number of rabbis
who were suspected of passing a Din Rodef
against the late prime minister,
thereby rendering his life forfeit.
I have the letter here.
I'll read it to you.
Regarding:
the investigation of the rabbis.
The attorney general read
your aforementioned letter
and the attached investigation file
and after consulting
with the state attorney
and the director of the Criminal Division
of the state attorney's office,
he asked me to respond that in accordance
with the police departments position
and the state attorney's recommendation,
the attorney general has decided
to close the case
due to lack of sufficient evidence.
The investigation was initiated
due to complaints
against a number of rabbis
suspected of passing a Din Rodef
against the late prime minister,
Yitzhak Rabin, RIP,
thereby rendering his life forfeit.
Rabbis Dov Lior,
Nachum Rabinowitz,
Eliezer Melamed
and Shmuel Dvir were investigated.
Two people claimed
that Rabbi Dvir told them
that he spoke to Rabbis Dov Lior
and Nachum Rabinowitz
and gathered from what they said
that they passed a Din Rodef
against Yitzhak Rabin.
This is merely hearsay countered
by absolute denial.
The aforementioned rabbis deny
that they passed a Din Rodef
against Yitzhak Rabin.
Rabbi Dvir denies saying these things
to the aforementioned two people.
The rabbis deny all acquaintance
with Rabbi Dvir
and insist that they have always
warned against acts of violence.
Continue, please.
Regarding the letter
to the great rabbinic jurists
from Rabbis Dov Lior,
Daniel Shilo and Eliezer Melamed
asking about the content of the Din Moser
concerning the PM and his ministers.
The content of the letter was deemed
insufficient grounds for criminal charges.
The interrogee's also claimed
that the matter was theoretical
and that the purpose of the letter was
to receive a Jewish-law opinion
on the existing situation.
The letter was signed
by Noam Solberg,
senior adviser to the attorney general
and copies were sent
to State Attorney Ms. Nava Ben-Or,
director of the Criminal Division
of the state attorney's office,
and to Ms. Talia Sasson,
head of the attorney general's office's
Integrated Committee
for Dealing with Crimes of Sedition.
On what were the claims
against them based?
Against Dov Lior
and Nachum Rabinowitz,
two people claimed
that they heard separately
from Rabbi Dvir
that he spoke to the rabbis
and gathered that they passed
a Din Rodef
against the late Yitzhak Rabin.
Rabbi Dvir denies this,
and the rabbis deny
all acquaintance with Rabbi Dvir.
The rabbis also insist
that they always warn
against the use of violence.
Regarding the letter
to the great rabbinic jurists,
the letter from Dov Lior,
Daniel Shilo and Eliezer Melamed,
the letter was weighed up...
and deemed insufficient grounds
for criminal charges.
Mrs. Orot,
I understand we have that letter.
Could you please read it
to the commission?
I'll read the rabbis' letter.
Rabbi Dov Lior,
chief rabbi of Kiryat Arba,
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, secretary of the
Judea-Samaria Rabbinical Committee,
and Rabbi Daniel Shilo,
rabbi of Kedumim.
What judgment does this evil government
and its leader deserve?
Can they be considered
accomplices to murder
perpetrated by terrorists?
Since after all, they are responsible
for their increased power
and their armament.
According to Jewish law
should they be tried,
and what would be their penalty
should they be found guilty?
If they can be punished
by the religious court,
is it every Jew's obligation
to see to it
that they are brought to trial
in religious court,
or, if given no choice,
in a secular court?
Thus write the great religious jurists.
And is it the public leaders' duty
to warn the prime minister
and his ministers at this terrible time
that if, following the bitter test
of the Oslo Accords,
they continue to apply it
throughout Judea and Samaria,
they will be liable by Torah law
to the punishment accorded to those
who hand over Jewish lives
and property to gentiles?
We can no longer silence the question
that bursts from our pained hearts.
- Thank you. That's enough.
- Thus write the great jurists.
Rabbi Dov Lior,
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed
and Rabbi Daniel Shilo.
- Yes.
- Thank you.
- Were there other statements?
- Yes.
A particularly vehement statement...
by Rabbi Nachum Rabinowitz
which was secretly recorded
by Mr. Frankenthal.
Rabbi Rabinowitz compares
the Israeli government
to the Nazi regime.
He even mentions the possibility
of planting land mines
if IDF soldiers should come
to evacuate the settlements.
Under interrogation,
Rabbi Rabinowitz stated...
that he is against violence
and the day when he spoke privately
with Mr. Frankenthal
he was apparently very upset
since it was Holocaust Remembrance Day
among other things.
I don't get it.
You decided to close the case
despite all this?
Look, I can't base
a criminal charge
on these types of statements.
In order to prove grounds
for a crime,
the statement had to be publicized.
It was not.
This is not to detract from the severity
of the things that were said and heard,
some of which are infuriating
and unacceptable.
They should reconsider
their statements.
And how, in your opinion,
can they reconsider their statements
if the legal system under your jurisdiction
doesn't deal with sedition
and willingly chooses not to?
As I said,
hearsay is not grounds
for incrimination.
Some of this hearsay,
as we recall,
resulted in unnecessary harm.
I want to quote Avtalion
from the Sayings of the Fathers,
a verse with which
I closed my report
regarding the investigation
of the rabbis.
Sages, be careful with your words
lest you bring exile upon yourselves
and you are exiled to a place
of evil waters...
and your pupils drink of them
and they die...
and desecrate God's name.
Yes. I made a note to myself
that I'd like to read to you.
I want to state that it grieves me
that this important letter
was brought to the attention of this
commission only after it issued its report
regarding the assassination
of Yitzhak Rabin.
It's an important document which should
have been discussed in its proper time.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
May God's grace be upon us
and may He guide our hands.
Bless You, O Lord our God,
who sanctified us and commanded us
to affix a mezuzah.
Bless You, O Lord our God,
who sustained us and brought us
to this day.
Yigal, I left you
Tractate Sanhedrin on the desk.
It talks about...
Joab and Abner
on page 49-A,
the Din Rodef law.
You'll get my meaning.
And they brought Joab -
They brought Joab before his judges.
They brought Joab
before Solomon to judge him.
He said, 'Why did you kill Abner?'
'Why did you kill Abner?'
Joab said,
'I avenged Asahel's blood.'
'I avenged Asahel's blood.'
'Asahel was a persecutor.'
For it is written that Asahel pursued Abner
in order to kill him
and Abner justly killed him
in self-defense.
'He should have saved himself
by striking one of his organs.'
He replied, 'He couldn't.'
He replied,
'He aimed at his fifth rib.'
As it is written: Abner struck him
in the fifth rib with his hilt.
Rabbi Yohanan said:
In the fifth rib,
where the gall bladder
and liver are.
'He couldn't strike
only one of his organs.'
He replied, 'Abner was right.
Abner was innocent.'
Tell me what you were doing
before November 4, 1995.
I was a law and computer science
student at Bar-Ilan University.
When did you start?
September '93.
Bar-Ilan also has a school
of religious studies.
So you stopped studying law?
Yes. You could say I stopped.
Until November 4 I was a law student.
- How old are you?
- 25.
Describe the events
of November 4.
I attended morning prayers as usual
at the synagogue near home.
In my prayers I asked to succeed
in killing the prime minister
and to get away unharmed.
Then I packed a few things for school.
I took my gun
from above my desk...
and cocked it
after sorting through the bullets.
I loaded it with a hollow-point bullet,
then a regular bullet,
another hollow-point,
another regular bullet.
About 10 bullets.
I made sure the gun would shoot,
cocked it...
and left the house.
Excuse me.
Hello, everyone. I'd like to begin.
The incident takes place in the settlement
of Beit El in the West Bank.
A large police unit bursts
into the yeshiva.
They arrest a young student
studying with friends.
A rabbi tries to intervene.
There are many policemen there.
Dror Adani, 23,
talks of his plans with Yigal Amir:
to fire a bazooka at Arafat's helicopter
when he arrives in Ramallah,
destroy the Palestinians' electric grid
and torch their fields.
The location: Beit El.
The police arrest a religious girl.
Margalit Har-Shefi.
Twenty years old.
Yigal Amir's girlfriend.
Her job: to steal weaponry
from the Beit El armory.
She's aware of Yigal Amir's plan.
She spent hours with Amir's brother.
She knew if there was a plan
to kill Rabin or Peres
or both.
The location:
a villa in Herzliya Pituah.
First Sergeant Arik Schwartz, 23.
Yigal Amir gives him 100 shekels
to find a soldier who'll lend him
a gun with a silencer.
The police find an impressive number
of guns in the basement.
Arik Schwartz is in on the plan
to poison the Rabin family's
water supply.
The plan is never carried out.
He lives with his parents
in Herzliya Pituah.
- Do you see -
- Questions later.
Do you see the direct connection
between the sedition
that preceded the murder
by rabbis, by settlers,
by government officials,
by prime ministers,
- to this despicable murder?
- I can't answer -
- Where's the connection?
- I can't answer political questions.
- It isn't political, it's a conspiracy.
- Ma'am, I want to move on.
The assassin's relatives
are now being investigated.
In some of their houses
arms caches were found
big enough for a terrorist organization.
Magazines, homemade grenades,
delay mechanisms,
smuggled bullets,
clock mechanisms
and missile launchers.
We initiated investigations.
These are the weapons.
We initiated investigations
and plan further investigations.
Charges were pressed against
the first accomplice and he's being held.
The suspect is
Hagai Amir,
the assassin's brother,
who confessed to preparing
the bullets used for the assassination.
But Hagai Amir denies knowing
what Amir's intentions were.
Both brothers are suspected
of belonging to a radical movement.
The police are looking
for other members of the movement.
You can ask questions now.
Thank you.
So your conclusion based
on the evidence
is that Rabin's assassination
was the result of a conspiracy
by a political or religious organization?
Rabin's assassination could be the result
of a radical right-wing conspiracy.
But we're extending our investigations
among movement activists.
Next question.
Did Yigal Amir have accomplices
who helped him get past security
and commit the murder?
As far as we know, Amir acted alone.
Next question.
Was there any previous information
indicating a possible right-wing attack?
All those accomplices,
and neither the police
nor the secret service knew anything?
The police know of no previous information
regarding a Jewish assassin.
Last question.
I understand the police functioned badly
during the incident.
What is your response?
We say
that the police did their job properly.
- That's all. Thank you.
- No!
- We have more questions!
- No more questions.
We want to get back to work.
Thank you. That's all.
Thank you.
- We want to get back to work.
- The nerve!
I want all the files.
Go ahead, guys. Quick.
We want the truth.
We want the whole truth.
What happened there?
Where are the fingerprints?
I'm missing fingerprints.
That's mine.
I need Hagai's. Now.
Hurry up, people.
I'd like to bring up
an ideological issue.
I'm not sure the commission
has a mandate to look into it
but I'll read it to you anyway.
I'm sure you're aware of these things
but we think
it's important
and it constitutes a background
to the bloody confrontation
we're in the midst of.
There are right-wing religious
political circles
that perceived Israel's victory in 1967
in theological terms
and saw it as the beginning
of the Redemption
and an opportunity to realize
the dream of the Greater Israel.
From these circles came
the Gush Emunim movement in 1974
led by Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook
whose primary goal was
to force the Labour administration
to build as many settlements
as possible all over Greater Israel
and I quote:
After the Likud came to power
in 1977,
Matitiyahu Drobles,
head of the Settlement Division
of the Zionist Federation,
prepared a comprehensive plan
on behalf of the government
to build settlements
throughout the West Bank,
mainly in eastern Samaria
next to Palestinian-populated areas.
Ariel Sharon,
then agriculture minister
and supervisor
of the Israel Land Administration,
contributed significantly
to the settlement effort.
Through Sharon's plan
dozens of settlements were built
in areas of high-density
Palestinian population
including the Hebron region
and the western strip of hills
adjacent to the Green Line.
To sum up,
in 1977 there were 31 settlements
with a population of 4,400 settlers.
In 1992 there are 120 settlements
with 100,500 settlers.
Interesting study.
And now to the point.
The establishment of settlements
in the West Bank
constitutes a violation
of two important international law treaties
which prohibit the establishment
of settlements.
This violation is the cause
of a long list of violations
of the Palestinians' human rights.
I'm referring to the Hague Convention
concerning the laws and customs
of ground war
and its bylaws from 1907
and the Fourth Geneva Convention
concerning civilian rights
in wartime from 1949.
Israel promised to uphold them.
In 1971
I served as attorney general,
and my position was then
and still is
that since Egypt
and Jordan's sovereignty
was never recognized
internationally,
these territories are not considered
occupied territories.
It's true
that Israel promised to uphold
the humanitarian directives
of the Fourth Geneva Convention,
but it never defined which directives
it intended to uphold.
But Article 49
of the Geneva Convention states
that the occupying power
will not expel,
nor transfer its civilian population
to the occupied territory.
The settlements also constitute
a violation of the Hague Convention
since they weren't built for the benefit
of the local Palestinian population
but for the benefit
of the Israeli population.
The government initiated, built
and funded most of the settlements
while creating a very generous system
of benefits and incentives
to encourage people to move to them.
Article 49 doesn't prohibit
the building of settlements.
The directives of the Geneva Convention
regarding the transference of populations
to occupied territory are not prohibitions.
The settlements weren't built
in order to expel the Arab populace.
Israel runs a complex bureaucratic
and legal system in the West Bank
whose purpose is to take over
hundreds of thousands of acres
of Palestinian land,
some of which is privately owned,
in order to build new settlements
or to expand the existing settlements.
Israel's main methods
are the seizure of land
for military purposes,
declaration or registration of land
as government property
and expropriation of land
for public use.
Between 1979 and 1992
over 228,000 acres
of West Bank land
were declared government property.
Remember, in 1992
the Rabin administration decided
to freeze construction
in the settlements.
As I mentioned,
Israel used these three means
to take over about half the area
of the West Bank.
At the same time, independently,
settlers are taking over
privately-owned Palestinian land,
destroying olive trees
and damaging Palestinian property,
houses and vehicles,
while the authorities almost always
avoid enforcing the law
and returning the land
to its rightful owners.
According to Chief Justice Aharon Barak,
the Hague Convention revolves
around two main axes.
One, ensuring the legitimate rights
to security
of the side which takes over land
through combat...
and two, securing the interests
of the civilian population
in the given territory.
The military commander
may not place the national,
military, economic or social interests
of his own country
before the interests
of the local populace,
and this is how the army
conducts itself.
Gentlemen,
let's get back to our subject
which is the assassination
of Prime Minister Rabin.
I don't understand the connection
between your questions
regarding the Geneva Convention
and government policy in the territories
and the Rabin assassination.
That's exactly my point.
That's our investigative committee's
lacuna.
It doesn't address
the religious school of thought
that legitimized
the violation of human rights
and theft of Palestinian land
which led directly to hooliganism.
In the final analysis, Yigal Amir's gun
was only the murder weapon.
Behind it is a series of laws,
the humiliation and trampling
of the Palestinian populace
and moonstruck rabbis
with weird religious edicts
who no one
in this grand legal system
saw fit to bring to trial.
Your arguments
are interesting intellectually
but it is not within this commission's
authority to address them.
Our job is to examine the operative acts
of negligence in the Rabin case,
not their political background.
Not of the rabbis,
not of the circle of settlers you describe
and not of the parliamentary right wing.
Thank you, gentlemen.
We'll meet again
tomorrow morning at 9:00.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
City dwellers and country dwellers,
supporters of Likud and Tsomet
and the NRP and Moledet...
but also supporters
of the Labour Party
and those who voted
for Yitzhak Rabin,
we are here to say on behalf
of an even bigger public
which is watching us now,
we're here to say three things -
Death to Rabin! Death to Rabin!
We are here to protect Jerusalem,
to protect the Galilee,
to protect the Negev.
The people of Israel,
this ancient, strong nation,
is awakening from the illusions
it was sold,
shaking off the great swindle
it was led into.
Even now
the vast majority supports us.
With an additional effort
by all of us,
in the next elections we will,
God willing,
see an incontestable victory
by the National Bloc
because what we are fighting for
is true peace,
not a false peace.
We are fighting
for the expansion of Jewish settlement,
not reduction.
We are fighting
for Jewish immigration,
not the Palestinian right of return.
But this administration isn't only trying
to lead the public astray.
It's leading itself astray too.
We'll get rid of Rabin
with blood and fire!
We'll get rid of Rabin
with blood and fire!
Rabin traitor! Rabin traitor!
Our alternative has a name.
It's called Zionism.
That is our alternative.
Zionism.
We'll get rid of Rabin
with blood and fire!
Rabin, resign,
we don't want you anymore!
I call on the masses
gathered here today...
to go out to the junctions,
to go out to the streets,
to go out to the city squares
and demonstrate our disappointment
with the governments policies,
our opposition to bringing
Arafat to the Land of Israel
and our determination
to preserve our state, our hills
and our city of Jerusalem.
He's a traitor! He's a traitor!
Death to Rabin! Death to Rabin!
Death to Rabin! Death to Rabin!
The current administration
doesn't have a Jewish majority
and therefore it has
no authority whatsoever
to give away parts
of the Land of Israel.
The very signing,
the declaration
of giving away parts of Israel,
constitutes the concession
of parts of the Torah...
and that is a desecration.
The Oslo Accord means nothing,
and no administration
that represents the Jewish people
should even consider it.
The Accord is a violation
of the Torah for three reasons.
Giving away parts
of the Land of Israel,
the Holy Land,
is a violation of Torah law,
an explicit violation.
Placing the security of Jews
in the hands of gentiles,
in the hands of others...
is risking lives,
an invitation to murder.
Furthermore...
the emissary may not act against
the wishes of he who sent him.
And the majority of Israelis,
the Jewish majority,
and certainly in the Diaspora,
did not grant this minority government
the authority to act
in fundamental, essential matters
that determine our fate.
And now...
the question must be asked:
Must not the leaders
of the public...
warn this administration...
warn the prime minister
and his ministers
that if they continue
to act on this awful treaty,
if they continue to try to apply it
in the territories...
they will be liable by Torah law,
by Jewish law...
to the Din Moser,
punishment accorded to traitors...
since they are placing the lives of Jews
in the hands of gentiles?
That's all I have to say.
- Let's begin.
- Who has the floor?
Gentlemen,
I have something to say.
If we want to stop
the peace process,
we have to attack Rabin
and only Rabin.
To crush him and his legitimacy
in security issues,
to undermine his emotional
and political stability.
Since Rabin is the dominant figure
he must be weakened,
presented as someone who gave in
to leftist dictates, a puppet of the Left.
If we succeed,
the Left will lose the upcoming elections.
Every time I see his face turn red
from the pressure
applied by my small team -
Go ahead. I had my say.
I know we've won.
Friends, all we need
are 10 men.
My men disguise themselves
as journalists
and get Rabin's schedule
from the local councils
where he's appearing.
They organize quickly,
as a small, noisy group,
and greet the prime minister
with catcalls
wherever he goes.
Bravo. Very good.
True, sometimes Kach and Kahane's
activists show up, but we can't control that.
Friends, we're following the rules
of this administration,
which has no mandate.
These people know they're being sold out
and they won't have it.
We have to rebuild the democracy
since this administration
is an insult to the Knesset
and the rule of law.
And it's only the beginning.
We always act
through legitimate means
and the message we want to spread
through our people is:
Rabin, go home. Rabin, go home!
Hello. Good evening.
Friends, I'd like
to cut this discussion short
so we can listen to Dr. Neta
who'll give us a psychological profile
of Prime Minister Rabin.
Go ahead, Neta.
- Good evening.
- Good evening.
Besides all of your discussions
here at the Council,
may God bless you,
and besides
all the strategies and tactics,
I want to devote a few words
to a character analysis
of our prime minister.
This is a professional opinion
since I'm a clinical psychologist
and for many years now I've treated
all kinds of characters
including schizophrenics.
My diagnosis is...
the prime minister...
is schizoid,
there's something missing.
A schizophrenic is a person
who loses, to some degree,
contact with reality
and lives in an absurd imaginary world
of his own making,
out of touch with objective reality.
This kind of person
has strange thoughts,
hallucinations,
thoughts with no rational basis.
These people usually
find themselves
in psychiatric hospitals.
The schizophrenic...
suffers from detachment.
It's hard for him to understand,
to communicate with others,
and schizophrenics have a proclivity
for addictions,
to drugs, to alcohol.
As a clinical psychologist...
I'd recommend very strongly
that Yitzhak Rabin receive treatment
and the public should be informed
of the prime minister's sad condition.
- Excuse me.
- Yes.
- Pardon me for interrupting.
- It's perfectly all right.
But in light of the important things
you're bringing up here,
I'd like to know if there are
other leaders in the world
who have such severe
psychological problems.
Unfortunately, yes.
Certainly there are other leaders
like him.
Hitler, curse his name,
was schizoid.
And there are still those like him,
plenty of them.
I've observed Rabin's personality
in the media.
I've studied a lot of documents
in order to reach this diagnosis,
and it is precise.
The symptoms speak for themselves.
It's obvious.
The detachment.
The inability to find ways
to express himself.
The grasping for words,
for concepts.
The repeated tendency
to use the term
which, naturally,
indicates a certain megalomania.
Certainly.
His contorted facial expressions,
his odd gestures...
his uneasiness...
and above all...
his absolute belief
in his perverse reality,
the fruit of his imagination...
and the complete loss...
of his ability to judge.
All these symptoms indicate,
clearly and incontrovertibly,
that Yitzhak Rabin is a schizoid.
It's unthinkable
that we should place our country,
our trust and our leadership
in the hands of a man
who suffers this pathological disease!
My God!
We will treat the signing
of the Oslo Accords
as occupied France treated
collaboration with the Nazis.
I'm so sorry, but...
the facts are unbearable.
It's treason! Listen to me!
- We have to make the point clear.
- He's right.
It's treason...
and the day may come
when Rabin is put on trial
just as Ptain was,
and from now on the word traitor
should be attached to Rabin's name.
- Friends, friends -
- You're blurring the point.
- It needs to be made clearer.
- But he's right.
Friends, we have to be practical.
The people must know
that Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres
have joined the Cult of Satan.
- The Cult of Satan.
- Friends, it's a fact.
You can't bring that message
to the public.
It's a cult that has taken over
the government.
Just as the Vichy government.
Mrs. Orot,
please call the next witness.
Sit down, please.
Please state your name
and ID number.
Name: Noam Kedem.
ID number 02 44 06 001.
Address: 86 Sharett Street, Tel Aviv.
Mr. Kedem, it's my duty to warn you
that you must say the truth,
the whole truth
and nothing but the truth
or you may be punished
as prescribed by law.
Mr. Kedem,
what do you do for a living?
By training I'm an accredited lawyer,
by trade I own 50%
of a certain small business
that's just starting out.
I'm also a cofounder
of Generation of Peace,
that's short for
A Whole Generation Demands Peace,
an organization that was founded
just after the assassination.
What did you do at the rally?
We were making our way
toward the stairs
where we hoped to get
a glance of Yitzhak Rabin.
We were thrilled by his courage
in continuing the peace process
despite the despicable attacks
by the fascist Right.
Please focus on the rally itself.
Do you remember barriers
being placed at a certain point?
While we were waiting for Shimon Peres
and Yitzhak Rabin,
I was talking with my girlfriend
about the very question of security
because what we saw there
seemed very odd.
Odd? In what way?
- Can you be more specific?
- Certainly.
First of all, when we got there
there was no order
and no one in charge.
A uniformed Riot Squad commander
was standing there
giving orders to his men:
You stand here, you do this.
I'm referring to the shoddy measures
that end in tragedy.
He stood there greeting his friends
who'd just arrived.
How are you? How's it going?
Chatting with them.
Can you show us exactly
where that was?
- Yes, if you have a diagram.
- Yes.
Sigal, can you show us
the diagram of the square?
We'll bring out a diagram
and you can show us exactly.
Go ahead.
Here was the barrier
on the stairway.
After that were two
or three barriers
that continued to the street
leading out of the parking lot.
I was standing -
After they put the barriers in place,
I stood behind the barrier
closest to the exit from the parking lot.
I was the last in line
where Shimon Peres came down
to shake people's hands.
The last person to shake his hand
before he went behind his Volvo
was me.
So you walk around freely.
Yes, we walked around freely,
more or less,
and from time to time
a policeman said, Folks, move back.
It was the same policeman
who later gave orders
to the Riot Squad.
Did you see what was happening
on the roof?
People stood there freely,
and I told my girlfriend
that a sniper would have
no problem shooting from there.
It also bothered me
that in the City Garden corner
there was only one
border patrolman.
Do you really think that I,
a simple bystander,
should be giving you
all this information?
Don't any of the so-called
security forces have any answers?
What's going on here?
Please state your name,
ID number and position.
My name is Rafael Yulazri.
I'm a police superintendent, commander
of the Ayalon District Riot Squad,
ID number 567 776.
It's my duty to warn you
that you must say the truth,
- the whole truth and nothing but the truth -
- Yes, sir.
Or you may be punished
as prescribed by law.
Please tell us about the rally
on November 4.
What was your position then?
I was under the deputy commander
of the Yarkon District Riot Squad,
provisory,
on the southwestern corner
of the stage.
What time did you arrive?
If my memory serves...
around 4:30.
- 4:30 PM.
- Yes.
- I came at 4:30.
- 4:30 PM.
And I went straight
to the first briefing,
and a half hour or hour later
I was asked to reinforce
the City Garden roof.
Reinforce? What do you mean?
Was someone there?
No, no one was there.
He asked me to place two men there.
I did
and added a few more men
including myself.
- Were there people in the parking lot?
- Yes.
A lot of people,
plainclothes security agents,
drivers.
Lots of people with food.
People with trays of food
going up and down.
And basically,
we sent away everyone
who wasn't supposed to be there.
Did you check any of the people
in the parking lot?
Not those beyond the barrier.
There was this secret service agent...
who told us to send them away.
So everyone we checked
who didn't have authorization,
we got rid of.
Other people came from the west
and the secret service agent pointed out
that people were coming in.
So I sent two men
from the Yarkon Riot Squad
over there,
and from then on,
almost nobody got in.
I can't say that the place was
totally sealed, but I can say -
Please go back to your place.
That everyone the secret agent
told us to get rid of -
- Yes, but go back to your place.
- we got rid of,
and from then on it was
the secret service's responsibility.
Yes, but you relied on his opinion.
Naturally.
But did you, the police,
also check people?
You see someone standing there,
leaning on a car.
Did anyone go up and ask him,
Who are you?
What are you doing here?
I want to make it clear
that the job we police did that day -
- Please go back to your place.
- Fine.
We police worked very hard that day.
We worked on the barrier.
It was war.
- We had to fight -
- Let me help you.
We had to fight
to keep it together.
Tell me exactly
what your assignment was.
To reinforce the troops
so people wouldn't get in
from Ibn Gabirol Street,
and that's just what we did.
I wasn't told to make
the place airtight.
No, not airtight.
But I'm asking
if anyone asked you,
the policemen in charge
of the barrier,
did anyone tell you to check
who the people in the parking lot were?
I don't want to press the point,
but I personally
was never told anything
about making the place sterile!
Okay?
But it was obvious that
whoever didn't belong there
should be removed.
Or whoever the secret service agent said
was authorized to be there.
I gather from your words that you were
at the secret service's disposal.
To do whatever they told us.
From then on, the place
was almost completely sealed off.
No one could get in
from either the west or the east
unless they were authorized,
and we checked them.
Authorized like the assassin,
for instance?
No. Not the assassin.
I don't remember him coming in
or leaving.
No,
because he was already there.
Excuse me, sir,
are you being cynical?
No. He was already there.
He was there.
I beg your pardon,
but your cynicism is out of place.
Please continue
and stick to the facts.
He was there
and you didn't remove him.
That's true,
but your cynical implication that -
I beg your pardon.
No name-calling.
I'm asking you,
he was there
and you didn't remove him.
If you, sir, put it that way,
- I'll answer in kind.
- Go ahead.
I don't -
It's possible that he was there.
I don't know.
Mrs. Orot, please sum up
the testimony in two sentences.
Superintendent Rafael Yulazri's assignment
was to reinforce the troops
in order to prevent people coming in
from Ibn Gabirol Street.
The area was not defined as sterile.
He was not told explicitly
to remove everyone,
but it was clear that
unauthorized people
or those whom the secret service
said shouldn't be there
should be removed.
Thank you.
Thank you. Many thanks.
What am I supposed to do?
- How do you feel?
- I don't know.
I feel like -
I don't know
whether to laugh or cry.
How do you feel about it?
Damti, Menachem.
ID number 102 714 3.
My job is...
driver for the prime minister.
Are you the only driver?
Do you take turns?
The prime minister generally has
two drivers.
We decide when to switch.
Please describe your actions
until the prime minister arrived.
I went to the car
and waited in the car.
As I was waiting in the car,
Shimon Peres, who was foreign minister
at the time, came down
and asked me,
When is the prime minister coming?
I answered,
He'll be here in a few seconds.
He said, I'll wait.
He waited.
Then he said, Well, I'm leaving.
I stood by the door.
Later the prime minister came down.
I mean, he came down -
He was a foot or two
from my door,
and Mrs. Rabin was behind him.
Now, I was about
to open the door for Mrs. Rabin,
not for the prime minister,
because the prime minister
used the other door.
I saw his wife behind him.
I opened the door.
When the prime minister
reached my door,
about...
a foot or two from the door,
and I was standing at an angle...
the assassin came from this direction...
and I heard a bang.
I turned quickly
and saw him shooting
and shouting,
Blanks, blanks.
Then I got into the car...
and as I got into the car -
I mean, I was in the car,
and the head of security, Yoram,
put him in
and said, Drive.
Was your blue light flashing?
In the car?
Yes, in the car.
It's always in the car. Yes.
Now, I don't know if it was on.
I got into the car
and turned on the siren and sped away.
I don't know if the light was flashing
but I know the siren was on.
I was in no state
to play with the buttons so I -
I drove straight to the hospital.
Were you told in advance
which route to take
to the hospital in an emergency?
Usually, Your Honor,
they always tell me.
For some reason they forgot to.
They didn't give me
an escape route.
Who usually tells you?
The commander,
the head of the team
and the whole crew,
if it's a big event like that.
What happened at the hospital?
Was he admitted immediately?
No one was expecting me
at the hospital.
When I got to the hospital
I parked the car at the entrance,
got out quickly.
There was a hospital
security guard there,
and I shouted to him hysterically,
Please bring a stretcher!
He did so very quickly.
He brought the stretcher,
I took the prime minister by the back,
Yoram took him by the head,
and I asked the policeman
to help us from behind.
We put him on the stretcher
and ran to the trauma unit.
How long was the drive
from Kings Square to the hospital?
I'd estimate...
a minute
or a minute and a half,
with the delay,
with the policeman and everything.
I'd say it took a minute and a half.
According to the hospital's files
the prime minister arrived
at the hospital at 9:55 PM,
that is, eight minutes
after the shooting,
500 meters away.
It seemed like a minute
and a half to me.
Thank you.
On November 4, 1995,
I was the prime minister's
personal bodyguard.
There were seven guards
on the team.
All in all there were 20 guards
at the incident.
Please speak up.
I was the team leader.
I walked next to him.
Into the microphone, please.
There was one man in front,
one in back, theoretically,
and another joined us
on the left.
How did you regroup
after the rally?
We went down the stairs toward the crowd
with the crowd on our right.
I thought the idea was
to shake hands with the crowd
through the barrier
when suddenly,
out of the blue,
he turned left toward the car.
At that point
I was behind the prime minister.
I wasn't next to him.
How far away were you?
About a foot and a half away.
Continue.
When we turn left toward the car
and we were standing
at the rear door,
I heard a gunshot
from behind and to the left.
I wrapped my arms
around the prime minister
and started to pull him down.
I didn't see the gunman.
I realized he misfired
or he was overpowered.
But that wasn't my concern.
The PM was still alive after the shooting.
Not only was he alive,
he helped me up.
And I naively thought
that your job was
to protect the prime minister...
even to take a bullet for him,
and certainly to kill the assassin.
Please continue.
At that point
we leapt into the car.
In retrospect
I'm surprised that a man his age
was able to leap like that.
We leapt into the car
with the PM in the backseat
and me between the seats.
His legs stuck out a bit
so I pulled in his feet
and told Damti to drive.
At the police station
on the night of the assassination,
on November 5...
at 1:07 AM...
you said,
I picked the prime minister up
and pushed him into the car.
Right?
At Yigal Amir's trial
you gave a different testimony
after the shooting.
And I quote.
You said,
I spoke to the prime minister.
I grabbed his shoulders.
I told him,
'You listen to me and only me.'
You shouted that.
You said,
according to our documents,
'Listen to me and only me.'
I repeated that a number of times.
I continue to quote you.
There's a part that I don't remember,
then I found us
on top of each other in the car.
There are many contradictions
in your testimony.
I covered him with my arms
from the right.
The assassin came from the left.
Do you think the decision
to take the prime minister
to the hospital was correct?
I think so.
In that situation the casualty should be
evacuated as soon as possible.
What would've happened
if they'd used the evacuation corridors
and the route the driver took
had been clearer?
I can't answer that.
The fact that the prime minister
arrived at the hospital dead
and we managed to restore his heartbeat
raises the question:
What would've happened
if he'd arrived two minutes earlier?
That question can't be answered.
It's clear that his wound was severe
and he wouldn't have survived it,
but no one can answer that question.
Please describe in detail
the wounds that he sustained
when he arrived.
A bullet wound
next to the spinal column
and a wound to the spinal column.
At that point we couldn't diagnose
the wound to the spinal column itself.
Additional wounds
from a knife or a regular bullet,
a hole in his back that crushed
his spleen and left lung,
passed next to his heart
and cut the aorta
which caused bleeding.
That's what usually happens
with this kind of wound,
but he didn't -
he didn't die from the bleeding.
The mechanism that caused him
to lose consciousness
and his actual death
was pneumothorax,
abnormal amount of air in the chest.
When we breathe,
air enters our lungs.
Due to the wound
the air entered the space
between the lung and the chest
creating pressure,
a valve effect.
The more he breathed,
the greater the pressure.
A drain was inserted
and his heartbeat returned,
but the damage to his brain
was irreversible.
Air entered the wound
in his aorta
and his heart sent air
to the brain instead of blood.
That's a fatal situation.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Please introduce yourself
to the commission.
In the service I'm known as Y.S.
The VIP Security Unit.
When did you first hear of the rally?
The head of operations
in the VIP Security Unit
contacted me on October 25, 1995,
and decided that I'd be in charge
of security at the event,
six days before the assassination.
When did you start
to plan for the event?
On October 31, 1995,
a preliminary morning survey
was conducted together with the police.
Was there no survey
to check field conditions
including lighting intensity
in real nighttime conditions?
No.
In your opinion, did the short notice
hamper your planning capability?
Yes.
Only four days before the rally
was, in my opinion, too late...
considering the size of the event
and the identity
of the dignitaries who attended,
as well as the ability to be involved,
to feel out the territory.
If we could go back in time
and give you another
two or three weeks,
what would you do?
What would I do differently?
I'd get involved from the beginning,
due to the number of participants
as well as the complexity
of the event
and the fact that it covered
a broad area
with many points of access.
Did the police give you comments
from the summary of the survey
you conducted with them?
No.
You said it was a preliminary survey.
Were there other surveys?
No. That's all we managed to do
at such short notice.
But you checked
the police instructions?
We didn't check
the wording
of the police instructions,
but the police were certainly required
to visually screen everyone
who entered the area.
That is, spotting suspicious people
and preliminary questioning.
If I understand you correctly,
if you wanted to be precise
you should've said,
We asked the police
to question suspicious characters.
That way one would get the impression
that anyone who wanted
to pass the barrier,
like the drivers who had to show
an authorization by the police,
a policeman should've asked him,
Who are you?
Where are you going?
Isn't that right?
I didn't ask the police to do that.
Take no responsibility.
I'm sorry, Your Honor,
that that's the impression I gave.
Did you ask for something else?
Did you meet with the police again?
Your Honor,
our requirements were very clear.
Preliminary questioning and visual screening.
It's standard procedure.
Sir, I want to remind you
that I was given the assignment
just a few days before the event.
I did everything I could do
and should've done
in the given amount of time.
I have no more questions.
It's quite possible that the police
didn't do their job properly
and that should be looked into.
Thank you.
The next witness,
Mrs. Sara Eliash,
asked to appear before the commission
of her own volition.
She's the second witness
after Rabbi Benny Elon
to ask to appear
of his or her own volition.
I don't see
what this has to do
with the commission's mandate
to investigate the operative acts
of negligence that led to the PM's murder.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
Please state your name,
ID number and job
into the microphone.
Sara Eliash.
ID number 10 256 801.
I'm the principal
of the girls' school in Kedumim,
Ulpana Lehava.
It's my duty to warn you
that you must speak the truth,
the whole truth
and nothing but the truth,
or you may be punished
as prescribed by law.
Can you tell us why you asked
to speak to the commission?
When Avishai Raviv's name
appeared in the newspapers,
as a school principal
I was shocked
at the thought
that behind a man
who incited sedition
among little schoolgirls,
and who knows
how that might affect them -
That an official entity
stands behind him,
that made me very upset.
I asked the girls
what exactly was said
and it was not the first time.
They knew them well.
Not very well,
but they knew them by name.
By your leave I'd like to quote
a few things that were said
a little more clearly.
How old are the girls?
They're now in ninth grade.
That means they're about 14.
Not all of them.
Some are 14, 15, 16,
who went away for Shabbat -
Not girls. Young women.
You could call them young women.
These young women
often went away for Shabbat
by themselves,
just for fun.
- When was this?
- There were two Shabbats.
The 26th of Nisan,
that's what the girls said,
and the 3rd of Tammuz,
if I'm not mistaken. Yes.
- This was 1995? This year?
- Yes. This summer.
May I?
One of the girls told me,
I went into a room
where there were Kach activists.
Those were her words.
Avishai Raviv said that a Din Rodef
had been passed against the government...
that all the Arabs in Israel
should be killed
and that the whole government
should be blown up.
These things were said
in Yigal Amir's presence
and in front of college students.
The girls said they tried to argue
and then Avishai Raviv said
that the Arabs should be killed
and that soldiers
who evacuate settlements
should be shot in the leg.
This girl told me,
When I heard that I was shocked.
She tried to tell them
that soldiers shouldn't be attacked
and that you can't kill all the Arabs,
some other solution should be found.
Afterwards, of course,
we came to the conclusion
that he needs -
I'm referring to Avishai Raviv -
he needs psychological help.
- Excuse me.
- Yes.
Mazi, escort her
to the archive, please.
What's going on?
You have to go to the archive
for a few minutes.
- Okay. Can I leave my purse?
- Sure.
- What's the matter?
- This is classified information.
The secret service has informed us
that they insist
that everything concerning
Avishai Raviv remain classified.
I'll bring it to your attention
that the subject of Avishai Raviv
should be kept to a minimum.
Platoon 5, follow me!
Please leave this place now.
Hello, sir. How are you?
I'm fine. Leave now, please.
What right do you have
to get rid of us?
I want to tell you something.
A higher-ranked officer
than you was here.
- A retired general.
- Leave or I'll have to use force!
He asked,
What right do you have to be here?
I said, God commanded us to!
You know what?
Your son will do army service
on that hill too,
because we're going to decide
where this country's borders are!
When did you come up
with the idea of shooting the PM?
When the Oslo I Accord was signed.
I realized that the only way
to stop the travesty was
to get rid of the prime minister.
There are many ways to do that.
I tried them.
But I realized that the only way is
to hurt him so he can't function
as prime minister.
And if that can't be done,
if I can't put him out of commission,
then death is the answer.
Doesn't the Bible say
Thou shall not kill?
There's an agreement -
There's a more important commandment.
It's saving a human life.
According to the Torah,
if a Jew hands his people
and his country over to the enemy,
it's an obligation to kill him.
Can you stop rocking?
Sit up straight!
When you kill someone...
in battle, it's a negative act,
but the purpose is lofty.
That's why it's permitted.
If someone comes to kill you,
get up and kill him.
Who says it's lofty?
You? Do you decide
what's lofty and what isn't?
Whether to kill or not to kill?
Do you know -
Do you know what it means
to save a human life?
Who brainwashed you,
the rabbis?
An entire nation elects someone
and you decide he should be killed?
Not to kill him,
to paralyze him politically
so he can't function as prime minister.
Israel has laws, doesn't it?
I don't care about the law.
I only care about the Jews.
I want to tell you something
about what's lofty.
I'm talking about saving
a life in hell itself
and I'm talking about my father.
World War Two was hell.
He'd been captured in Germany.
Then he came back to the family.
He escaped and came back...
and he smuggled the whole family
over the Russian border.
The Russians told him:
You can have Russian citizenship,
but only you.
Not your family.
He passed up the opportunity.
He said no,
and he saved lives by doing so.
He took his family
and decided to go to Siberia
because the condition was
either you go to Siberia or you join us.
He said, No. I'm going with them.
He passed up the opportunity
and he made a sacrifice.
He served five years in Siberia
doing hard labor...
and that's what I call lofty.
He didn't look out for himself.
He did something
for the whole family.
- You see?
- I made a sacrifice too.
No! You didn't sacrifice anything!
What did you sacrifice?
I sacrificed myself
for the sake of the Jews.
Rabin is sacrificing the Jews
for the sake of his ideals.
I sacrificed myself
for the sake of the Jews.
Did you ask if the Jews
want your sacrifice?
How can you be so arrogant?
When you left your house,
did you know where you were going
and for what purpose?
When I went to the square
I didn't know I'd kill Rabin.
I figured,
if the opportunity comes up -
I stood there and waited.
I waited between them for 50 minutes
and nobody said a word.
Between who and who?
Between the police and the bodyguards.
- Between the police and the bodyguards?
- Yes.
When I got within range of Rabin,
I saw a space open behind him.
So I turned,
walked around someone
and approached from the side.
I couldn't believe I got so close.
I could have touched him.
When I started walking,
I intended to shoot him in the head,
but when I saw the space open
I went in and aimed at his back,
the seam on his jacket.
Did you shout that they were blanks?
Why would I?
To throw off the security guards.
Interesting idea,
but I didn't do that.
Wipe that stinking smile
off your face.
Sit up straight!
- Do you regret what you did?
- I don't regret a thing.
I did it wholeheartedly.
I did what many have wanted to do,
and it's about time the people woke up.
Do you consider yourself sane?
- I am sane.
- Do you think you're normal?
- Completely normal.
- Or -
Completely normal.
Do you remember your conversation
with Rabbi Tal?
Who told you I spoke to Rabbi Tal?
When did you meet him?
I met him
at Baruch Goldstein's funeral.
I went up to him and asked,
What is this?
Rabin's giving everything away
and nobody says anything?
He said, There's nothing we can do.
It's a divine decree.
I asked,
Isn't he considered Din Rodef?
He said, I don't know.
He isn't authorized
to make Jewish rulings.
He said, I don't know
if there is a Din Rodef.
Then he said, It's a good deed.
That's enough for today.
I want to make this clear.
Perhaps it has been overstated
in the media
prematurely
that two major, dramatic subjects
are going to be decided on
at the meeting
between Mr. Arafat and myself:
the policing of the Jordan Bridge
and a significant enlargement
of the Jericho region.
I think that at the beginning
we were coping too much...
not only because of us,
maybe mainly because of us,
with symbolic issues.
And the main problem...
of what's going to happen
with Gaza -
750,000 Palestinians,
economic woes...
building a system which will uphold
civilian law and order,
which will also bear responsibility
for the security of this region,
which will prepare for development,
which will, first of all,
replace us as administrators
because as I mentioned,
there are 24,000 paid employees
in Gaza's civil administration.
A week from now, when we leave,
who will pay them?
Who is prepared to pay them?
Is there a system
that can take on that responsibility?
In the past I was very much
against a unilateral withdrawal
and the main reason was
that we would be accused -
That by withdrawing
we would create chaos and killing,
and all sorts of things might happen
if we withdraw from Gaza unilaterally
and there is no entity that can take on
the minimum of military responsibility,
and there isn't.
Someone who can take on
the minimum of responsibility
for Gaza's immediate essential needs.
If we don't give electricity,
Gaza will have no electricity.
If we don't supply water,
Gaza will have no water.
If we don't supply their hospitals
with oxygen,
I don't know
what the hospitals will come to.
If we don't provide medicine
and the rupture is too violent -
RABIN IS KILLING ZIONISM
The government's policy
is leading us to destruction.
It's endangering not only the settlers
but the people of Ra'anana,
demonstrating here with me,
and they understand
that the choice is simple:
either a Palestinian state
a few minutes from here,
which is only the beginning,
or autonomy and security,
which we offer.
And that's the choice
the public will face,
I hope, in the early elections.
Honorable Knesset,
the administration that took office
over a year ago
decided to try to put an end
to the cycle of war and terrorism...
to try to build a new world
in our country,
in our homes, in our families,
which haven't known a year,
a month,
when mothers didn't mourn their sons.
We are not blind to the risks
and we will do everything necessary
to minimize them.
At the same time,
we believe
that the risks are calculated
and they are worth taking.
I call on all Knesset members
to give us a chance to take advantage
of this great opportunity.
- Aren't you ashamed of yourself?
- No. I'm the son of a Holocaust survivor.
The grandson
of four grandparents I never met
because of a Judenrte
like this government.
I feel good and safe
among the Israeli people,
even if there are
negative elements.
I went through enough
in my military service
not to be afraid of such things.
There's a backdrop
of verbal violence in the streets.
There's -
The verbal violence
and the attending mood
lead to noisy rioting
as well as actual violence.
I think the actual violence
is only being perpetrated
by the radical fringes.
This is the emblem.
People managed to remove
the emblem from the car,
and this emblem symbolizes the fact
that just as we got to this emblem
we can get to Rabin.
Mr. Rabin, how does it feel
now that almost all
of your contact with the public
takes place under heavy security,
more and more policemen and security guards
separating you from the public?
I know that sedition is
running rampant, verbal violence,
violence on the Israeli street.
If there's violence in the Knesset,
verbal violence,
there is violence in the street,
violence on the roads.
I saw the demonstration
in Jerusalem
where I appeared
in a picture of a Gestapo agent
and I saw a Knesset member,
a former Likud minister,
David Levy,
driven away by an incited crowd.
I saw the violence
in front of the Knesset.
Knesset member and Likud Chairman
Benjamin Netanyahu contacted me
before I left for the US for a meeting.
I came home one Friday afternoon
and I saw a demonstration.
Likud signs, people shouting,
Traitor! Murderer!
I said it would be foolish of me...
to play the Likud chairman's
hypocritical game.
He sat there and spoke
in front of pictures of the Gestapo.
He suggests that we meet,
and he holds demonstrations.
- Won't you try to stop the radicals?
- I don't trust him.
- It'll get worse until the elections.
- That's possible,
if the Likud decides to.
- We aren't creating the violence.
- You're the prime minister.
I can't use coercion
except as the law allows.
If the prime minister is here
I'll ask him to come in.
I'm personally asking
the prime minister to come in.
I'm asking him to come in.
I'm personally asking
the prime minister to come in.
No. Don't do this to me!
Look what you're doing,
you're carrying on -
what you did outside.
These are the results.
Pardon me, sir.
If he can talk, can't I?
Certainly. Absolutely.
Please do, Mr. Prime Minister.
I wish you would.
No. And we'll conclude with this.
Sir, he's the prime minister
and he'll say whatever he wants.
Excuse me.
I'm not asking -
Don't interrupt the prime minister.
I'm not asking to speak
from the podium.
The phenomenon of incitement...
under the heading
of preventing a national schism...
is nothing new.
- It has existed -
- Don't interrupt. We didn't interrupt you.
- Has existed -
- Don't interrupt!
- But you also did -
- Excuse me, Deputy Alon,
don't interrupt the prime minister.
Look what you're doing.
You're repeating a syndrome
that manifests outside later.
You don't let him speak here
and that's how it starts.
- This isn't -
- Let him speak!
- This is nothing new.
- Let him speak like you let Netanyahu!
- This is nothing new.
- Let him speak!
- I repeat.
- Have a little respect.
This is not a new phenomenon.
It's now disguised
as national unity,
and in the guise of national unity
people use expressions
that only lead to schism
and I suggest
you stop the hypocrisy.
WE LIVE UNDER
A BLOODY ADMINISTRATION
WHO'S NEXT IN LINE?
RABIN, ARE YOU NEXT IN LINE?
People who put Jewish lives
in danger,
according to Jewish law,
their lives are forfeit.
He shot at Jews in the iAltalena incident.
Rabin himself.
He'll get shot in the head
by a Jew.
If you'd asked him that morning...
that Saturday,
if he considered the possibility
that he could be harmed,
the answer would be no. Never.
He was unworried and confident
and he certainly wouldn't agree
to wear a bulletproof vest.
He was absolutely confident
in terms of his personal safety.
And I have to admit that I was too.
I trusted the people guarding him
and it never occurred to me
in my wildest dreams
that such a thing could happen,
that such a thing would happen.
Although there were
warning signs here and there...
it didn't occur to us
and we refused to consider it.
We didn't believe
such a thing was possible,
that the most insane, cruel,
incomprehensible thing
could actually happen.
That's why I'm angry,
if I'm angry at all -
and I do put thought
and effort into it -
at the school of thought
that produced this negative element...
and preached such things
and the political group
that called Yitzhak murderer
for so long.
Murderer and traitor,
saying that he didn't know
where he was leading the people.
And that's how they led the way...
in such a way that
it produced the element
that could understand things that way,
that if he really was
a murderer and a traitor
who was selling Israeli land,
then Israeli land is more sacred
than this man's life
and it's a commandment to murder him.
I can't even get angry.
There's no anger in me.
It's beyond me.
I can't get angry.
I can only feel sorrow.
This committee,
which it was my honor to lead,
was not appointed
to investigate the factors
that led to the social and political
culture that led to the assassination.
It was not asked to offer its opinion
on the circumstances
that led to the assassination.
That is not the role
of an investigative committee.
The committee was restricted by law
to examining the functioning
of the people and the systems
responsible
for the prime minister's safety.
This report does not exempt
Israeli society
from its obligation to conduct
a thorough investigation...
and to try to answer the question
of how we reached the point
of the assassination
of an Israeli PM by an extremist...
and how violence turned into a means
of solving political conflicts.
This investigation should be conducted
by society as a whole
and the educational institutions
in particular.
Since the establishment
of the State of Israel,
its strength has lain in the essential balance
between fostering its power
and the moral restrictions it took on.
Israel's pride as the only democracy
in the Middle East lay,
among other things,
in the fact that negative phenomena
such as political murder
do not exist
in its social and political culture.
Three gunshots
on November 4, 1995,
totally changed these axioms.
Israel after the assassination
of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,
may he rest in peace,
will never be the same.