Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511060074
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL LENGTH: Long
Rabin, 73, was about to get into his car when the gunman fired three bullets from close range, hitting him in the back and stomach. He was taken to Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, where he arrived unconscious, without pulse or blood pressure.
Israel TV said the gunman, Yigal Amir, 27, who was taken into custody at the rally, confessed to shooting Rabin and told investigators that he didn't regret the deed.
In recent weeks, Rabin had repeatedly voiced concern about growing political violence in Israel and accused the right-wing opposition of inciting against him.
Like Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat, who was mowed down in 1981, Rabin died in the paradox of peace efforts spawning violence. His policies, especially his autonomy agreements with the Palestinians, have deeply divided Israel. At right-wing demonstrations, Rabin was routinely denounced as a ``murderer'' and ``traitor.'' At a recent rally, protesters even held up posters of Rabin in a Nazi uniform.
Right-wing extremists who gathered briefly at the hospital condemned Rabin, even while he was fighting for his life. ``Rabin is a murderer,'' they shouted.
But hundreds of others waiting outside the hospital burst into tears when Rabin's top aide, Eitan Haber, announced that Rabin had died.
At the site of the shooting, King of Israel Square in Tel Aviv, young Israelis sat on the ground, weeping. Some lit candles, while others sang the ``Peace Song,'' which Rabin had sung with the crowd at the rally earlier in the evening. At a Jerusalem shopping mall, people walked out in the middle of a movie when word of the assassination reached them.
A state funeral was scheduled for Monday. According to Jewish tradition, burial takes place within 24 hours. However, the funeral was delayed by a day to give world leaders a chance to attend.
Many will be watching to see how many Arab leaders take part.
In Washington, President Clinton said ``Peace must be and peace will be Prime Minister Rabin's lasting legacy.''
PLO chief Yasser Arafat said he was shocked ``by this awful, terrible crime.'' He hoped that ``all of us, Israelis and Palestinians, will have the ability to overcome this tragedy against the peace process.''
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, widely seen as the architect of the peace process with Palestinians, was chosen by Cabinet members as acting prime minister early today. Peres was with Rabin at the rally and was only yards away when the shots were fired.
When a prime minister dies in office, the government is deemed to have resigned and becomes a transitional government. The president, Ezer Weizman, must begin contacts on the formation of a new government. The next regularly scheduled elections are in November 1996.
Peres convened the shaken Cabinet ministers for a midnight mourning session in Tel Aviv. Parliament Speaker Shevah Weiss told The Associated Press that the answer to ``this satanic, terrible step is peace immediately ... with the Palestinians, with all the powers around us.''
Peres, the driving force behind the peace agreements with the Palestinians, has been more dovish than Rabin, his long-time political rival. However, in the last three years, the two had put their rivalries aside and worked as a team, and they shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Arafat.
It was not clear whether Peres would use the expected backlash against right-wing extremists to carry out some policies deemed too unpopular until now. For instance, Peres long wanted to dismantle the 450-strong Jewish community in the tense West Bank town of Hebron, but hesitated for fear of protests.
``For 27 years, I was a military man. I fought all the time. There was no chance for peace. I believe that now there is a chance for peace and we must take advantage of it,'' Rabin had told the peace rally.
He was about to get into his car when the gunman fired the bullets.
Noam Kedem, a 26-year-old lawyer from Tel Aviv, said he heard two or three shots and ``I saw Rabin holding his stomach. I don't know exactly where he was shot, but he was holding his whole body and then he fell on the ground.'' He said security men hovered over him, then two more shots were fired.
The gunman, Amir, was quickly pinned to a wall by dozens of policemen. Israeli radio and TV reports said Amir was a law student from Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, who had been involved in right-wing causes, including setting up illegal settlements in the West Bank.
A previously unknown Jewish extremist group, identified only as ``Ine,'' had claimed responsibility in an announcement given to Israeli police reporters on their beepers.
Avital Shahar, an official of the right-wing Likud Party's youth wing, said the shooting was ``the worst thing that has ever happened in this country.''
As he spoke, onlookers shouted insults, blaming the attack on right-wing incitement. In recent weeks, the government reportedly increased security around Rabin and his Cabinet members after threats from right-wing groups.
by CNB