Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel (40 page)

141
summoned him repeatedly for rebukes:
Gillon,
Shin Beth Between the Schisms,
247.

141
He bragged separately to Har-Shefi:
Yigal Amir, court records, 1995–1996.

141
Geulah thought Amir was still brooding:
Geulah Amir, witness statement, November 1995.

142
God would reward the person:
Dror Adani, court records, 1995–1996.

143
“Rabin’s character exemplifies”:
Uri Milstein, “Begin, Shamir, Sharon and Raful Are All Accomplices in the Big Lie Named Rabin,”
Nukuda
, July 1995.

143
“There, they were forced to collaborate”:
Gillon,
Shin Beth Between the Schisms,
239.

143
“They [Hamas] receive signals from both”:
Benjamin Netanyahu,
Mabat
, Israel Television Channel 1, March 30, 1995.

144
“pushes the extremists even further”:
Gillon,
Shin Beth Between the Schisms,
237.

144
Instead, Shabak purchased an armored Cadillac:
Ibid., 268.

145
“Are you out of your mind?”:
Ibid., 273.

146
So torn was Rabin that he offered:
Ami Ayalon, interview with the author, July 29, 2013.

149
“He didn’t think it was a real threat”:
Mordechai Alon, “I Could Have Saved Rabin,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, November 16, 1995.

151
“If you’re wearing one”:
Dror Mor, interview with the author, June 10, 2013.

152
“We took it into consideration”:
Ibid.

152
“Dignitary Protection was a cocky unit”:
Shlomo Harnoy, interview with the author, July 3, 2013.

154
He also admitted to teaching two minors:
The report of the Shamgar Commission.

155
He found Rabin alone in a back room:
Carmi Gillon, interview with the author, June 6, 2013.

157
“He really wanted to kill Rabin”:
Dror Adani, court records, 1995–1996.

157
Occasionally, he raised the concern:
Ibid.

Chapter 7

160
watched Arafat press his arm to Rabin’s back:
Martin Indyk,
Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009), 1.

161
climbed the roof of a building:
Yaron Kaner, “Eyal Seminar in Hebron, Organized by Yigal Amir,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, November 10, 1995.

162
At meals, Amir would stand up and announce:
Ibid.

163
a sizeable gathering of extremists:
Shai Fogelman, “Fifteen Years After Conducting the Pulsa Dinura Against Rabin, Avigdor Eskin Unites Right-Wing Extremists from Around the World,”
Ha’aretz
(Hebrew), October 28, 2010.

163
“Angels of destruction”:
Ehud Sprinzak,
Brother Against Brother: Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics from Altalena to the Rabin Assassination
(New York: The Free Press, 1999), 275.

164
“This is the ornament”:
“Itamar Ben-Gvir in His Youth,” YouTube clip, uploaded November 15, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7KkLWTcEYM.

164
“You better restrain your people”:
Michael Karpin and Ina Friedman,
Murder in the Name of God: The Plot to Kill Yitzhak Rabin
(London: Granta Books, 1998), 97.

165
When he spotted Har-Shefi on the street:
Margalit Har-Shefi, witness statement, November 1995.

165
Ofir kicked and spat at policemen:
Zvi Harel, “District Court Convicts Hebrew University Rabbi,”
Haaretz
, February 14, 1997.

167
the Islamic Jihad leader who had boasted:
Robert Fisk, “The Doctor Who Finds Death a Laughing Matter,”
The Independent
, January 30, 1995.

167
Skornik would notice in a video:
Ohad Skornik, witness statement, November 1995.

167
students talked about starting:
Nili Kolman, witness statement, November 1995.

167
he suggested they drive to Shavei Shomron:
Hagai Amir, interview with the author, July 2013.

168
discussed the counter-rally that rightists planned:
Nili Kolman, witness statement, November 1995.

168
“We don’t talk about things like that”:
Yuval Rabin, interview with the author, June 12, 2013.

168
Motti Naftali began directing:
Motti Naftali, interview with the author, April 25, 2013.

169
It was a lesson they learned:
Dror Mor, interview with the author, June 10, 2013.

170
“Rabin is going to be assassinated”:
Ibid.

170
defuse a crisis with Peres:
Shimon Sheves, interview with the author, June 1, 2013.

170
“You bring Leah”:
Shahar Segal, dir.,
A Prime Minister’s Schedule,
Israel, 1998.

171
a quick trip to the
mikva
:
Hagai Amir, interview with the author, July 2013.

172
If Shabak had somehow been on to him:
Ibid.

173
If a policeman approached:
Yigal Amir, court records, 1995–1996.

173
“What a weirdo”:
Ibid.

173
if Rabin was wearing a bulletproof vest:
Leah Rabin,
Rabin: Our Life, His Legacy
(New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1997), 8.

175
the second bullet must come from:
Dror Mor, interview with the author, June 10, 2013.

175
“It’s not real, it’s not real”:
Ofer Gamliel, interview with the author, July 23, 2013.

175
“Listen to me and no one else”:
Yoram Rubin, witness statement, November 1995.

176
did Cohen realize this elderly man:
Naftali Glicksberg, dir.,
An Unclosed Case
, Israel, Alma Films, 2005.

176
Gutman wanted Rabin in the surgery room:
Gal Ochovski, “The Last Minutes of Rabin’s Life,”
Ma’ariv
, November 3, 2000.

177
“Don’t worry, it’s not real”:
Shai Glaser,
HaMakor,
Israeli Channel 10, November 10, 2009.

177
“Why aren’t you at the hospital?”:
Rabin,
Rabin: Our Life, His Legacy
, 12.

179
At 11:02 p.m.:
Ochovski, “The Last Minutes of Rabin’s Life.”

180
“From the look on his face”:
Bill Clinton, “Rabin Inspired Trust Even in Arafat,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, December 23, 2014.

180
“This idiot took my Yitzhak away”:
Shahar Segal,
A Prime Minister’s Schedule.

181
Amir delivered a full confession:
Yuval Gershon, witness statements, November 1995.

182
“I did it”:
Motti Naftali, interview with the author, April 25, 2013.

183
How could you do this to me:
Hagai Amir, interview with the author, July 1995.

184
The policemen and Shabak agents:
Ibid.

Chapter 8

189
Gillon felt a constant anxiety:
Carmi Gillon,
Shin Beth Between the Schisms
(Tel Aviv: Yedioth Ahronoth, Hebrew, 2000), 11.

190
“inconceivable reality”:
Leah Rabin,
Rabin: Our Life, His Legacy
(New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1997), 20.

190
She roused her mother:
Dalia Rabin, interview with the author, June 5, 2013.

191
House Speaker Newt Gingrich complained:
Itamar Rabinovich, interview with the author, June 17, 2013.

191
Yuval mispronounced many of the words:
Eitan Haber, interview with the author, August 5, 2013.

192
“In a democratic state, I’m allowed”:
Storer H. Rowley, “As Crackdown Looms, Settlers Tone Down,”
Chicago Tribune
, November 10, 1995.

192
“You couldn’t board a bus”:
Israel Harel, interview with the author, June 18, 2013.

193
“What did you people do to us?”:
Yedidia Stern, interview with the author, August 1, 2013.

194
She had agreed to host:
Israel Harel, interview with the author, June 18, 2013.

199
“He’s not mine anymore”:
Geulah Amir,
Mabat,
Israel Television Channel 1, November 9, 1995.

201
Frank had slipped into near catatonia:
Mordechai Alon, “I Could Have Saved Rabin,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, November 16, 1995.

203
Shabak found itself on the defensive:
Forty-six percent of Israelis said their faith in Shabak had been eroded, according to an opinion poll published in
Yedioth Ahronoth
, November 11, 1995.

204
a new survey showed him losing to Peres:
Yedioth Ahronoth
, November 10. The poll gave Peres 54 percent of the vote, Netanyahu 23, undecided 12.

205
Beilin had been planning:
Yossi Beilin, interview with the author, July 27, 2013.

205
“Rabin became a saint that night”:
Nahum Barnea, interview with the author, December 3, 2013.

205
“I thought it was unfair”:
Shimon Peres, interview with the author, February 15, 2012.

206
Why didn’t you urge Rabin to surrender:
Uzi Baram, interview with the author, June 11, 2013.

206
“hypothetical, conditional willingness”:
Itamar Rabinovich, interview with the author, June 17, 2013.

208
“Based on everything we knew”:
Ron Pundak, interview with the author, September 30, 2013.

208
“Peres was very seasoned at timetables”:
Itamar Rabinovich, interview with the author, June 17, 2013.

209
fearing one of them might be tempted:
Shlomo Harnoy, interview with the author, July 3, 2013.

Chapter 9

212
“There is simply no alternative”:
Amos Oz, “Israelis Will Not Stand for Fanaticism,”
Newsweek
, November 20, 1995.

213
the woman married the mailman:
Uri Savir,
The Process: 1,100 Days That
Changed the Middle East
(New York: Vintage Books, 1998), Kindle edition,
chapter 9
.

213
“The solution they were seeking was”:
Ibid.

214
If Palestinian terrorism picked up:
Uzi Baram, interview with the author, June 11, 2013.

215
“If they would have attacked us”:
Hagai Amir, interview with the author, July 2013.

215
“The problem is these Torah authorities”:
Joel Greenberg, “Rabbis and Settlers Dispute Their Own Culpability in Rabin’s Assassination,”
New York Times
, November 9, 1995.

216
“I have no doubt in retrospect”:
Ofer Gamliel, interview with the author, July 23, 2013.

219
“The morale was low”:
Carmi Gillon,
Shin Beth Between the Schisms
(Tel Aviv: Yedioth Ahronoth, Hebrew, 2000), 359.

219
On the first Friday of the New Year:
Dror Moreh, dir.,
The Gatekeepers
, Israel, Cinephil, 2012.

220
Peres grew tired of Assad’s dithering:
Savir,
The Process
,
chapter 9
.

223
“I’m sorry to have to convey”:
Eitan Amit, “Nahum Barnea Came Back with an Empty Notebook This Time,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, February 26, 1996.

223
“You lost a vote”:
Yaron London, “History’s Bloody Bargain,”
Yedioth Ahronoth
, February 27, 1996.

224
Ayalon now faced a dilemma:
Ami Ayalon, interview with the author, July 29, 2013.

224
“There were thousands of people around”:
Shimon Peres, interview with the author, February 15, 2012.

227
“He simply couldn’t fathom”:
Douglas F. Schoen,
The Power of the Vote
(New York, William Morrow, 2007), 83.

227
The two men also had a history:
David Landau, who co-wrote two books with Peres, interview with the author, June 23, 2013.

230
The fact that Gamliel had solved:
Gamliel discussed the issue for the first time on the Israeli Channel 10 news show
HaMakor
on November 10, 2009, and later with the author. To this day, the Shabak man has never been identified.

231
The unit’s company commander:
Bennett would go on to become the leader of the right-wing Jewish Home Party. Whether he bore responsibility for the Qana mishap would be debated vigorously in the Israeli media many years after the incident. See Amos Harel, “Was Bennett Really to Blame for the Deaths of 102 Lebanese Civilians in 1996 Battle?”
Ha’aretz
, January 7, 2015.

231
“These were sleepless nights”:
Shimon Peres, interview with the author, February 15, 2012.

234
opinion poll conducted after the broadcast:
Poll by Dahaf, published in
Yedioth Ahronoth
, May 28, 1996: Peres 51.5 percent, Netanyahu 48.5 percent.

235
the Israeli who voted twice:
Thomas L. Friedman, “And One Man Voted Twice,”
New York Times
, June 2, 1996.

235
Analysts would put the actual participation level:
Daniel J. Elazar and Shmuel Sandler,
Israel at the Polls, 1996
(London: Frank Cass, 1998), 6.

236
Peres told her he would be home soon:
Yossi Beilin, interview with the author, July 7, 2013.

Epilogue

240
the Michael Jordan of his profession:
Jim Walsh, “Shooting Reconstructionist ‘Michael Jordan of Profession,’ ”
Arizona Republic,
June 24, 2004.