Final_Judgment

Appendix Ten:
"Israel's Dark Side"
Was Israeli Intelligence Involved in the
Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin?
Many Israelis today believe that Israeli intelligence played a part in
the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Is it really
then so extraordinary to suggest that Israeli intelligence played a part
in the assassination of John F. Kennedy? Think about it.
In the closing months of 1997 there was a highly-charged political
frenzy underway in Israel—one that still continues to this day. The
controversy stems from allegations (made by citizens of Israel) that
elements in Israeli intelligence were, in fact, involved in the November 4,
1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
The British newspaper, the Guardian, described the "prevailing tone of
bitterness and division" 1055 in Israel that followed Rabin's death as charges
and countercharges were being made between rival political factions.
Rabin's successor as Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, lashed out at the
conspiracy theorists, saying their allegations were a "blood libel against the
state and its institutions." 1056
Essentially, the conflict boiled down to a debate over which faction—
the Labor Party and its allies or the Likud Party and its allies—is more truly
committed to the survival of the state of Israel. This debate has been longstanding
but Rabin's assassination exacerbated matters considerably.
In an interview several days after Rabin's assassination, David Axelrod,
an American-born resident of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, expressed the
viewpoint of many Israelis (and of some American Jews) it seems, when he
declared of Rabin's assassination: "It wasn't a Jew who was murdered. It was
a traitor who was executed." 1057
Although Axelrod was charged for making this highly inflammatory
statement, he was ultimately acquitted, demonstrating indeed that his views
have widespread support in Israel. However, the popular support for
Axelrod's opinions are also borne out by a survey conducted among Israeli
Jewish adults and released on the anniversary of the Rabin assassination.
Describing the poll results as being reflective of "Israel's Dark
Side," 1058 the Washington Jewish Week newspaper said that, based upon
extrapolations of the numbers of those responding to the poll, there are
300,000 Israelis "who justify and support political assassination in
theory," 1059 180,000 Israelis "who support harming any prime minister who
would return land for peace, including Yitzhak Rabin," 1060 45,000 Israelis
"who openly support political murder," 1061 and 1,000 Israelis "who would
pull the trigger themselves." 1062