Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel (39 page)

62
“transferring these hostile Arabs”:
Kiryat Arba election pamphlet, as cited in a memorial book for Goldstein titled
Baruch the Man
and edited by Michael Ben-Horin.

63
“treasonous politicians”:
Ibid.

63
“He just threw his medical bag”:
Eliezer Waldman, interview with the author, June 26, 2013.

64
suspected that he received at least tacit approval:
Hezi Kalo, interview with the author, September 12, 2013.

66
just as he expected Arafat to do with Hamas:
Perry,
Strike First
, 273.

67
“ambivalence” of Israeli police officers:
Yehudit Karp,
Investigations of Suspicions Against Israelis in Judea and Samaria
(Israeli Government Press Office, 1982).

67
Goldstein called his insurance agent:
Benny Barak and Avinoam Porat, “Two Days Before the Massacre, Goldstein Took Out a Quarter Million Shekel Life Insurance Policy,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, March 8, 1994.

67
“America’s ‘Gift’ to Israel”:
Richard S. Gunther and Gary E. Rubin, “America’s ‘Gift’ to Israel,”
Newsday
, March 3, 1994.

67
He had been nursing a toothache:
Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer, “Rabin at 72. A Birthday Conversation,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, February 25, 1994.

68
“That’s not how Zionism works”:
Eliezer Waldman, interview with the author, June 26, 2013.

68
“cancer in the body of Israeli democracy”:
Idit Zertal and Akiva Eldar,
Lords of the Land: The War over Israel’s Settlements in the Occupied Territories
(New York: Nation Books, 2007), 47.

70
“In this whole process, the extremists are getting stronger”:
Yoel Bin-Nun, interview with author, May 2013. Bin Nun shared with the author some of the letters he exchanged with Rabin between 1992 and 1995.

71
“[The idea] was to break Rabin”:
Michael Karpin and Ina Friedman,
Murder in the Name of God: The Plot to Kill Yitzhak Rabin
(London: Granta Books, 1998), 69.

72
Rabin waited silently:
Amos Eiran, who accompanied Rabin, interview with the author, July 2, 2013.

72
“He felt they were undermining everything”:
Uri Dromi, interview with the author, May 1, 2013.

73
“a saint, a great man”:
Patrick Anidjar, “Kach Extremists Who Backed Massacre Go Underground,” Agence France-Presse, February 28, 1994.

74
“Hollow and superficial”:
Ed Blanche, “Israel Moves Against Jewish Extremists,” Associated Press, February 27, 1994.

74
He also wanted an international force:
Uri Savir,
The Process: 1,100 Days That Changed the Middle East
(New York: Vintage Books, 1998), Kindle edition,
chapter 5
.

76
“An IDF soldier, though Jewish”:
Elyakim Haetzni, “Civil Disobedience Now,”
Nekuda
, January 1994.

76
“But if the government does”:
Zvi Zinger, “Settlers Calling on Soldiers to Refuse Evacuating Settlements,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, March 11, 1994.

77
“high likelihood of violent”:
Ehud Sprinzak,
Brother Against Brother: Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics from Altalena to the Rabin Assassination
(New York: The Free Press, 1999), 251.

78
Ben-Yair, the attorney general, would come to regret:
Michael Ben Yair, interview with the author, June 12, 2013.

80
an episode of
The Golden Girls
:
Dennis Ross,
The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace
(New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004), 131.

81
One of the bodies at the scene:
Clyde Haberman, “Arab Car Bomber Kills 8 in Israel; 44 Are Wounded,”
New York Times
, April 7, 1994.

82
“Keep Hope Alive”:
Said Ghazali, “Soldiers Shoot Stone-Throwers During Jackson
Hebron Visit,” Associated Press, April 8, 1994.

Chapter 4

85
Amir had been studying in the
kolel
:
Michael Karpin and Ina Friedman,
Murder in the Name of God: The Plot to Kill Yitzhak Rabin
(London: Granta Books, 1998),16.

86
“You don’t see a lot of people willing”:
Hagai Amir, interview with the author, July 2013.

86
he would have chosen a better target:
Yigal Amir, court records, 1995–1996.

87
“deep emotional bond”:
Nava Holtzman, witness statement, November 1995.

87
She regarded her Gali as handsome:
Geulah Amir, interview with the author, August 8, 2013.

88
a judicial commission to investigate:
After deliberating for seven years, the Cohen Commission found no evidence that children were snatched from their parents. Most probably died of disease and malnutrition.

90
stop at Rachel’s home:
Rachel Adani, witness statement, November 1995.

92
“The objective he set for himself”:
Jacob Perry,
Strike First
(Tel Aviv: Keshet, Hebrew, 1999), 273.

94
“The Torah is the brain”:
Yigal Amir, court records, 1995–1996.

95
“There’s no such thing as cognitive dissonance”:
Ibid.

96
“If he had a sense of humor”:
David Margolick, “Star of Zion,”
Vanity Fair
, June 1996.

97
“The Likud has got to come to terms”:
“Senior Likud Figure Bucks His Party, Calls for Acceptance of Deal with the PLO,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, August 2, 1994.

97
and consorting with rabbis:
Daniel Shilo, interview with the author, September 12, 2014. “There were many meetings in the home of Rabbi [Avraham] Shapira, many of them with the participation of Netanyahu. And from the home of Rabbi Shapira . . . there were repeated calls on soldiers not to evacuate settlements or military bases.”

97
“We have an issue with political adversaries”:
Undated YouTube clip, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms8si-ekSX4.

98
The three Israelis spent the week:
Nava Holtzman, witness statement, November 1995.

99
When they got back to Bar-Ilan:
Ibid.

99
To Hagai, Amir said he no longer wanted:
Hagai Amir, interview with the author, July 1995.

99
the relationship might have distracted him:
Karpin and Friedman,
Murder in the Name of God,
168.

100
looking for a woman genuinely committed:
Nili Kolman, witness statement, November 1995.

101
she would mimic his defense:
Margalit Har-Shefi, witness statement, November 1995.

102
Adani, who had been pondering on his own:
Yigal Amir, court records, 1995–1996.

102
They’re paid by the state:
Dror Adani, court records, 1995–1996.

103
he thought Amir intended the militia:
Ohad Skornik, witness statement, November 1995.

103
But Amir felt certain:
Yigal Amir, court records, 1995–1996.

104
he intended to shoot Rabin:
Margalit Har-Shefi, witness statement, November 1995.

105
the rabbi advised against it:
Ibid.

105
a holy martyr:
Sefi Rachlevsky, “A Racist, Messianic Rabbi Is the Ruler of Israel,”
Ha’aretz
, July 1, 2011.

106
“What is the rule about this bad government”:
Ehud Sprinzak,
Brother Against Brother: Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics from Altalena to the Rabin Assassination
(New York: The Free Press, 1999), 254.

106
the rabbis were hoping with the letter:
Daniel Shilo, interview with the author, September 12, 2014.

106
“If I did not get the backing”:
Yigal Amir, as quoted in the report of the Shamgar Commission, 89.

Chapter 5

110
“I will burn Gaza to the ground”:
Eitan Haber, interview with the author, February 18, 2013.

111
Arafat would be able to fight terrorism:
Yitzhak Rabin,
Mabat
, Israel Television Channel 1, March 1, 1994.

111
settlers hired several hundred :
Daniel Shilo, interview with the author, September 12, 2014.

112
The figure dropped by 79 percent:
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics.

113
“No doubt about it”:
Eitan Haber, interview with the author, February 18, 2013.

113
The first year of peacemaking:
Roni Shaked, “Terror at an All Time High During Year of Peace,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, September 13, 1994.

115
“Don’t worry. . . . We just want to trade”:
Jihad Yarmur, recounting the abduction for police investigators. Excerpts of his videotaped interrogation appeared in Levi Zini, dir.,
Nachshon Wachsman: Countdown to Death
, Alma Films, 2010.

116
Soldiers were always heading off:
Esther Wachsman, interview with the author, June 23, 2013.

116
first film screening in seven years:
David Regev, “The First Screening of Movie in Gaza,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, September 18, 1994.

117
she felt immense relief at the evidence:
Esther Wachsman, interview with the author, June 23, 2013.

117
A few loathsome kidnappers had reduced:
Zini,
Nachshon Wachsman.

119
“There’s not a single Hamas person”:
Ibid.

121
Esther asked Clinton:
Esther Wachsman, interview with the author, June 23, 2013.

122
a government commission banned some interrogation:
The Landau Commission, 1987.

122
Yes, she finally said:
Carmi Gillon,
Shin Beth Between the Schisms
(Tel Aviv: Yedioth Ahronoth, Hebrew, 2000), 220.

123
“Not one person objected”:
Zini,
Nachshon Wachsman
.

123
they left the Defense Ministry separately:
Gillon,
Shin Beth Between the Schisms,
221.

124
Haber was mesmerized:
Zini,
Nachshon Wachsman
.

125
“At this time, Israel Defense Forces soldier”:
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/MFADocuments/Yearbook9/Pages/237%20Statement%20by%20Prime%20Minister%20Rabin%20upon%20notific.aspx.

126
And Hamas had a track record:
Gillon,
Shin Beth Between the Schisms,
221.

126
“We have a rule”:
Zini,
Nachshon Wachsman
.

126
the operation was a go:
Gillon,
Shin Beth Between the Schisms,
222.

127
Lotan heard the man inside:
Zini,
Nachshon Wachsman.

127
“I understood from his expression”:
Ibid.

127
“They had a very traumatic visit”:
Dalia Rabin, interview with the author, June 10, 2013.

128
Esther noticed his eyes:
Esther Wachsman, interview with the author, June 23, 2013.

128
“Yasser Arafat earned many points”:
Gillon,
Shin Beth Between the Schisms,
218.

128
“He said, ‘That’s my red line’ ”:
Eitan Haber, interview with the author, February 18, 2013.

129
“Arafat is disappointed”:
Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer, “I Did Enough in the Negotiations with Assad.”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, October 28, 1994.

130
He informed neither Peres nor Rabin:
Yossi Beilin, interview with the author, July 7, 2013.

132
“carrying the envelope”:
Shimon Sheves, interview with the author, August 15, 2013.

132
When Norwegian security men watched:
Nahum Barnea, “Peres Stumbled; The Norwegians Thought It Was an Assassination,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, December 11, 1994.

Chapter 6

134
“May it be Your will that You heal me”:
“The Viduy Confession Prayers,” http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/364287/jewish/The-Viduy-Confession-Prayers.htm.

135
But somehow, Shabak knew only about:
Hezi Kalo, interview with the author, September 12, 2013.

136
The last time a Jewish leader:
The leader was Haim Arlosoroff. See Shabtai Teveth,
The Arlosoroff Murder
(Tel Aviv: Shoken, Hebrew, 1982).

136
“At the moment of crisis”:
Roni Shaked, “It’s Difficult but the Extreme Right Can Be Infiltrated,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
(Hebrew), October 29, 2004.

137
an emerging plot to murder Peres:
Hezi Kalo, interview with the author, September 12, 2013.

138
he reminded himself that he had tried:
Yigal Amir, court records, 1995–1996.

138
“If I’m going to act”:
Yigal Amir, court records, 1995–1996.

138
din rodef
applied to Rabin:
Margalit Har-Shefi, witness statement, November 1995.

138
Rosenbloom, who organized the protest:
Shmuel Rosenbloom, witness statement, November 1995.

139
As a rule, the more radical the group:
Carmi Gillon,
Shin Beth Between the Schisms
(Tel Aviv: Yedioth Ahronoth, Hebrew, 2000), 249.

139
Raviv seemed spellbound:
Benzion Gopstein, interview with the author, February 3, 2014.

140
“We got very angry”:
Dani Dayan, interview with the author, July 30, 2013.