Then Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin talks during an interview in Tel Aviv on May 18, 1989.
Assassin influenced by Sharon
Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin, in his first interviews since the 1995 killing, said he shot the Israeli prime minister because Ariel Sharon and other hawkish ex-generals warned Rabin’s land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians would bring disaster.
Yigal Amir fatally shot Rabin at the end of a peace rally in Tel Aviv on Nov. 4, 1995. He considered Rabin a traitor for signing the 1993 Oslo peace accord with the Palestinians, agreeing to return land Israel had captured in wars.
Amir told Israel’s Channel 10 TV he was spurred into action by comments from Sharon, Rehavam Zeevi and Rafael Eitan. At the time of the killing, all three were leading right-wing politicians with long, distinguished military careers.
