Rabin

7 Heshvan 5780 Hanoch Ne’eman NJ

Last week in Israel a professor said at a pro-Bibi demonstration that he had proof that Yigal Amir did not kill Prime Minister Rabin in November of 1995. This professor said he had seen many classified documents, but shared an unclassified one, a report by an independent researcher who said it was doubtful Amir killed Rabin, but that he was likely killed by a fellow whose initials are Y.R. Of course this must refer to the head of Rabin’s security detail, Yoram Rubin. The professor also suggested that the assassination was organized by a leading left wing politician, of course probably referring to Shimon Peres. Mr. Netanyahu responded the next day calling the idea “nonsense”.

What’s the deal? Is it nonsense or not?

First of all, it’s ironic that this professor chose a pro-Bibi demonstration to make this statement, since if Bibi knows something was amiss with the Amir episode, he does not want people talking about it, at least while he is still trying to have a political career. Therefore I find it one of those instances of divine humor that the statement was made at a demonstration where people were objecting to corruption probes against Bibi! I do of course believe that Mr. Netanyahu knew the Amir episode was something quite different than presented, as did scores or more of other people.

However the poor professor, who rightly still feels upset that his University was wrongly attacked as a result of the episode, cited conclusions I do not agree with. He cited theories which were stated in the early years of Rabin Assassination research, and which many, such as myself, do not suspect are the accurate story. Although I would not say they are impossible.

I do not think Shimon Peres ordered Rabin to be killed. I hope he didn’t. I know Mr. Peres was someone who could and often did abandon people who had been involved in crazy schemes of his which went wrong, such as the young Jews in Egypt in Operation Susannah, Jonathan Pollard, and others. And I know Mr. Peres would lie about anything too, if it served his political purposes. And that he highly disliked Rabin and that the feeling was mutual. But I think even he had limits, and I don’t think he would plan to kill Rabin. However, I do believe the episode was another ill-advised scheme which he backed – namely a false assassination attempt, which Rabin was supposed to survive, and which was supposed to garner support for Labor and Oslo, which were sinking. The official theme of the rally that night was “Yes to Peace, No to Violence”, to help the public conclude the desired message. But, again, divine humor; sometimes its dangerous to play with matches, as various forest fire starters can attest.

Why do I say Mr. Netanyahu would not want any conspiracy theories voiced? Because I believe he knew it was a mess-up or worse, but chose not to reveal it. Obviously to keep quiet about a crime is also wrong, and he therefore says today any such theory is “nonsense”.

Why did he choose not to reveal it? I don’t know. Perhaps a mutual black-mail thing. Someone may have subtly or otherwise threatened him they would reveal things they had on him if he revealed the assassination fiasco. Do you think that is far-fetched? Even a member of his own party used a secret recording to embarrass him, what might people from other parties threaten? And what about foreign players with an interest in the “Peace Process”? Remember that this was during the first Clinton Presidency, and Warren Christopher, the oil interest man in the White House, was pushing for the Integrated Middle East. That was not Mr. Peres’ original idea, he had few original ideas, but something sold to him by outsiders which he signed onto. Christopher could have signaled Netanyahu not to rock the boat by blowing the whistle. This was when Netanyahu was trying to become PM for the first time. And maybe Netanyahu thought he could win the election without revealing the fiasco, or perhaps he felt it better to keep the episode as an insurance policy if he didn’t. That election, in 1996, besides being the first one I voted in, was the first of three where the voters chose the PM in a separate ballot. Mr. Netanyahu managed, assuming the count was honest, to get just a few more votes than Mr. Peres. The interesting thing in that election, as Barry Chamish later pointed out, was that Mr. Peres himself, and Labor Party slogans, did not talk about the “incitement” thing, or even about Rabin’s death at all, during the campaign! A lot of journalists did, but not Peres himself, which is most remarkable. Mr. Chamish conjectured, and I believe it’s correct, that the only explanation for that was that Mr. Netanyahu warned them that if they tried to play that card, he would speak about what really happened.

But what about justice? How could they, how can they, let an “innocent” man sit in jail? Again, I certainly don’t know Mr. Netanyahu’s thinking on this, but let’s think of possibilities. We return to the question of what really happened. Various scenarios entail varying degrees of culpability by Amir:

1. Amir shot real bullets, which hit the PM. Obviously under this scenario, Amir would be rather guilty. Unless he was given the gun and told it had blanks, but even there, he would be responsible for not checking that. That Amir shot real bullets, either knowingly or unknowingly, I find unlikely – based on the numerous accounts of those present that Rabin looked unhurt. These witnesses include his wife Leah Rabin who saw him from some meters away, her bodyguards who told her “he is okay – it wasn’t real”, Yoram Rubin’s testimony to police that Rabin helped him jump into the car, and the account of the driver, Menachem Damti, that Rabin responded to his question of “are you alright?” by saying “it hurts, but not so bad”. The bullet wounds which were later ascribed to Rabin (and which we know were also changed from three to two in the course of the episode) would not support such testimony.
2. Amir shot fake bullets, which nevertheless caused the PM to go into pulmonary arrest, and they could not revive him. In this scenario, Amir would be the cause of his death, but without intention, namely accidental homicide. In such a case, he probably should not be in jail for more than five years, but a good number of other people should be in jail with him, namely all those who planned and participated in a fake assassination attempt. And in such a scenario, one could “say” that Amir killed Rabin, without being a total liar. Like Netanyahu said in his response to the professor: “Amir killed Rabin”.
3. Amir shot fake bullets, which did not harm Rabin in any way, and someone else killed Rabin. In this scenario, Amir bears even less responsibility, although still as much as everyone else involved in the fake assassination attempt, assuming he was a willing participant. This essentially is the accusation the professor was making. As I said, I subscribe to the second scenario as being most likely.

If either one of the latter two scenarios are true, and if Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Peres, and many others knew about it, then obviously they acquiesced to let Mr. Amir take the fall for what happened, for whatever reasons they may have had: career considerations, fear of jail, fear of reprisal, blackmail, apathy, etc.

So what the professor says is not nonsense, its just in need of investigation, which is what many people want it to not receive.

Incredibly, I saw yesterday that at a Rabin memorial rally in Tel Aviv last weekend, the theme was again “Yes to Peace, No to Violence”, showing that the message is still more important than the truth.

But the professor was not speaking nonsense, nor was Rabin’s family when they expressed their doubts about Amir’s guilt.

As always, I urge people to read the many books about the Rabin Assassination. A great intro and overview is in David Morrison’s Lies, Israel’s Secret Service and the Rabin Murder, which is also in English.

Peres, Rabin, and Amir

6th of Tishri 5777  Hanoch Ne’eman Jerusalem

Over the years, as more information came to light, I came to believe that Yigal Amir shot blank bullets. Rabin entered his limo uninjured, but soon after went into pulmonary arrest (stopped breathing), as the result of shock waves from the blanks. Later that night, as part of the cover up, three bullets were fired into Rabin’s dead body.

The assassination was planned by the Labor Party leaders themselves, an assassination attempt which was supposed to fail and thereby garner support for Rabin. However, the plan went wrong, and Rabin actually died. What bad luck!

Questions

Those ready to accept the Shamgar Report should try answering these questions:

1) Why did Leah Rabin’s guards tell her that Rabin was alright, it was not real, and he is in the car behind them, as she recounts in her book, “Rabin: His Life, Our Legacy”?

2) Why did everyone say on the night of the murder that Rabin was shot with three bullets, including a chest wound?

3) Why was the assassination filmed by someone who worked for the State Comptroller’s Office?

4) How did Shabak agent Yoav Kuriel die soon after the assassination?

5) Why did the Labor Party not mention the assassination at all in its election campaign some months later?

6) Why did bodyguard Yoram Rubin say Rabin helped to jump into the car, if Rabin was indeed then already shot in the spine as the Shamgar Report said?

7) What is the value of a confession?

Here are some possible answers:

1) The guards were told in advance there was going to be a fake attempt. This is also why they did not fire on Amir, as protocol would dictate. Leah’s guards did not know Rabin was hurt because he only stopped breathing after they got into the cars. Leah’s car probably drove past Yitzchak’s when his pulled over when he stopped breathing.

2) Rabin was shot with three bullets, including one to the chest. There is no way so many doctors, including the hospital director, and the Minister of Health, who was also a former combat doctor, all of whom were in the operating room, could have been mistaken about that. But since the Kemplar film showed Amir only firing from behind, the third shot had to be later denied.

3) The State Comptroller’s Office sent someone to exclusively film the place where the so called assassination took place because they were informed that such a fake assassination might be attempted and people on the Right made sure it was filmed so the bluff could be called. This is adumbrated in Yitzchak Shamir’s call to a right wing MK a month before the assassination with the warning, “They are going to try another Arlozorov”.

4) I do not know who killed Kuriel, but I suspect it was not himself.

5) Labor and Likud cut a deal to cover up the fiasco. Likud told Labor that if Labor mentions the murder in the election, Likud will talk about what really happened. Hundreds of people must have known something fishy happened. I have heard through friends such reports, that the story is not as it seems.

6) Rabin was fine seconds after the shooting, with no bullets in him. The pulmonary arrest started later, in the car. No blood was found at scene.

7) According to Jewish Law, confession is accepted in monetary matters, but is meaningless in capital crimes.

big facts about assassinations

8th Adar Bet 5776 Hanoch Ne’eman

More than the details, it is the big facts which get our interest in assassinations.

For examples, like…

-Lee Oswald is killed by someone who worked for the Mob all his life.

-Leah Rabin is told by security agents that the shooting was fake and Rabin is allright.

After facts like that, sorting out the details is a matter of time and effort.

 

He’s back

1 Shevat 5776 Jerusalem Hanoch Ne’eman (c)

This week a politician returned to the office he held some 21 years ago, heading the Ministry of the Interior. By the way, I am 21 years in Israel, so these events are the scenes of my life, or rather the scenes of our national political life which I have experienced. However, in the meantime he served some time in jail for taking bribes. As some Rabbis have said, such as Rabbi Berel Wein, in most places (meaning America, for example), such a sequence of events would preclude any thought of return to political life, let alone to assuming a ministerial position. It behooves us to try to understand why this works differently in Israel.

I would like to explain in on two planes; the plane of the voters and the plane of the other politicians, both of whom are accessories here.

This party has voters who do not care if he went to jail for bribes. They think he was framed, or that he is no better than anyone else in politics, and are glad he is working for them. This politician always plays the racial card, making his constituency out as the mistreated, and himself as the mistreated.

That this constituency can add up to several seats, is, largely, a result of our single district party system. If we had local districts, this party would likely have less seats, (as most parties would).

Secondly, the question of how this politician could return to a ministerial position.

Forgive me for being blunt, and I would be happy to be proved wrong about this, but I honestly believe it has to do with the B-word. (Blackmail). That is the same reason his trial dragged out for years and years. Only when it was politically feasible was he actually nailed. He has a lot of dirt on other politicians, and he knows how to use it. He is a great politician, in the pejorative sense of the term.

And he still knows how to use it. Significantly, the return of this MK to the post of Interior Minister is a potent rebuttal to the thesis expressed by many that, “It really does not matter much if the truth comes out about the Rabin Assassination. Anyway, Amir pulled the trigger, what does it matter if the bullets were fake and it was a fake assassination? In the end, those fake bullets caused Rabin to die, so is it not right he should sit in jail?” 

Not only is this claim wrong on legal grounds, since there is a major difference between accidental and intentional homicide, (no one usually sits 20 years in jail for accidental homicide), but it is even more wrong in political terms. You do not think that Minister X knows what went down with the assassination and would hesitate to use it as one of the guarantees of his getting the post he wants? That is the modus operandi of his whole careeer!

So you see these things do matter. As our Sages said, “One sin leads to another” (Pirke Avot).

 

 

 

The Feiglin Legacy

9th Tammuz 5775

On the political legacy of Israeli politician Moshe Feiglin, may he live and be well.

I want to write a little about the public activities and political career over the past twenty years of a fine Israeli, Mr. Moshe Feiglin.

Synopsis:

During Rabin government (1992 to 1995), starts protest movement against Oslo policies. Hounded by government in long trial, designed to intimidate opposition to government policies.

Eventually starts working in Likud, hoping to go to Knesset and if possible take over leadership of Likud. Signs up many people for Likud, including me. Helps get other religious and nationalistic candidates into Knesset by encouraging his faction followers to vote for them in primaries.

Netanyahu does all sorts of party tricks to keep Feiglin out of Knesset. Eventually Feiglin becomes Knesset member. Serves for about two years until new elections are called in which he does not place high enough on list to return to Knesset.

Positive traits and achievements:    Started excellent protest movement. Great teacher about civil disobedience, how to do it, and the right to do it. Something Yitzhak Rabin had no clue about, and no wish for anyone to learn about.

Negative traits and actions:   Non-friendly and perhaps naive approach of trying to take over a party. Setting himself up for Party Leader without much leadership experience. Foolish election slogan of “Moshe Feiglin – because he has G-d”.

Legacy:  Zu Artzenu, Feiglin’s grassroots organization,  drove Rabin so bonkers, rightly so, that he agreed it seems to the fake assassination attempt which was supposed to de-legitimize all opposition. The fake assassination goes awry when Rabin goes into pulmonary arrest from the shock waves of the black bullets. Dies. So indirectly, as The Lord’s sense of humor would have it, Feiglin has a large role in the demise of Rabin.

Future:  I believe Mr. Feiglin has a tremendous amount to contribute to Israeli society. I believe he may be able to contribute most as an educator and media personality. He is a great writer, and also a public debater. Having a news show where he hosts various guests can do a great deal to educate Israelis about real democracy.

I most identified with his position this summer with regard to the war in Gaza. He said tell all the residents to flee to a refuge in Sinai, and then bomb the Hamas terrorists like crazy. I think he said turning off the electricity too. This was good policy in my opinion.

bring out the water cannon

Chanoch Ne’eman 3 Tevet 5775 Jerusalem (c)

historical note

At the end of summer, twenty years ago, at the end of my first year in Israel, I attended a protest rally in Paris Square in Jerusalem. It was organized by the This is Our Land organization, to protest the withdrawal policies and arming of terrorists by the then government of Yitzhak Rabin. I went and was sort of shocked by what when on there. I was standing on the sidewalk with other protesters, just standing there, and over came a large group of Israeli police and started pushing us away. Not pushing us gently, but shoving us insultingly, like we were some teenagers caught smoking in the school bathroom. And we were old people, young people, just standing there participating in a legal gathering with a police permit!

And then, after they had cleared us from the square, out rolls this monster contraption with water cannon mounted on top and starts blasting the few die-hard youths who refused to leave the square with extremely high pressure water cannon. I had never seen or heard of anything like it before. (The photos below from Chile are from a smaller style  police water tank.) While shooting the water cannon accidently hit the illuminated street name sign on the corner, breaking it and leaving in swinging in the air held by an electric wire. And I was thinking to myself, “What’s with these water cannon? Where did this idea come from – Star Wars?”

For someone who had come from America, this episode was a sad and disheartening experience. In New York City, thousands of Jews, including me and my family, had protested against the Russian UN Delegation, and the NY Police had never lifted a finger against us. I guess because the US Constitution guarantees the freedom to assemble. I don’t think it would have been different if we were protesting against the American government, instead of the Russian.

That was in mid-September twenty years ago. The word was that PM Yitzhak Rabin had personally instructed the Police to treat the protestors roughly to discourage further protest. Less than two months later, in November, PM Yitzhak Rabin would die, after going into pulmonary arrest as a result of the gaseous shock waves caused by the fake bullets fired at him in a staged fake assassination attempt, designed by him and his colleagues to further delegitimize opposition to his government’s policies. (See other posts in the Rabin Fiasco category). I guess Hashem has his own ways of encouraging people to keep quiet.

I am recalling all this now, because last week, when our History Club met to discuss the Revolt against British Rule in Palestine, my friend Dr. Kent gave me, as is his want, a number of documents related to the topic. Among them was an article about Menachem Begin written by Dr. Avraham Avi-Hai in the Jerusalem Post on Nov. 28, 2014. He recounts there an episode which took place in Israel in 1952. The question was  whether the State of Israel should, as a State, not individuals, accept reparation payments from Germany? Ben Gurion, the Prime Minister, said yes. Begin, in the opposition, said no. By the way, Rabbi Y. Soloveichik, in America, also was opposed. Anyway, Dr. Avi-Hai describes how Begin spoke at a large demonstration against the policy, held while the Knesset was debating it. The demonstration was attended by about 15,000 people including many Holocaust survivors. Begin, as he was noted for, dramatically attacked the government and even called for its replacement.

I quote from Dr. Avi-Hai’s article:

The demonstrators then moved on toward the Knesset (then at the Frumin Building on King George Street near Ben-Yehuda Street). A large police force cordoned them off. The enraged crowd threw stones at the Knesset windows, and at Police. “After five hours of rioting, police managed to suppress the riots using water cannons and tear gas. Hundreds were arrested, while some 200 rioters, 140 police officers, and several Knesset members were injured,” according to Wikipedia. Begin was seen as personally responsible for the violence, and barred from the Knesset for several months.

Chanoch’s comments:

First of all, though I had heard about the reparations debate, I was unaware of this demonstration story. Now finally I have an idea where these water cannon had come from! As Thoreau writes in Walden, people are generally timid or bold as their fathers had been. So I guess Rabin, looking to Ben Gurion as a political father figure, saw fit to wet down his opponents in a similar way. It is interesting to me too that the 1952 demonstration took place on the same street, just two blocks away, as the 1995 protest. As to the account of the incident in 1952, I know some people consider Wikipedia the source of all knowledge, but I think most serious students of history realize that anything there needs to be verified by independent research. Just look at what is written there about the Rabin Assassination. That entry just appeared there in recent months. Those of us who were here and have followed the issue over the years, have to get on there and help counter that agitprop.

At the end of Dr. Avi- Hai’s article, he describes himself as being, in June 1948, “a volunteer from South Africa, who, against his will, was ordered to fire on the Altalena.” The commanding officer of that Haganah/IDF unit which followed Ben Gurion’s orders to fire on the ship was Yitzhak Rabin. Our Sages tell us not to judge someone till you are in his place, so I will certainly not judge Mr. Avi-Hai, who I tremendously respect for coming to fight for the infant State, and  if I was in his position, probably would have done the same thing, but I just want to point out that perhaps the more correct way to put it is “against his better will”. Because a person always has the choice of will who they are going to pull the trigger on. That was one of the points Thoreau made in his famous lectures, Slavery in Massachusetts, and Resistance to Civil Government. It is also the requirement of our Jewish Law, as our Sages said: there are three things one must give up his life rather than do – idolatry, murder, or forbidden sexual relations.

“What I said then, eh… is not important”

Chanoch Ne’eman – Shlishi, 10 Kislev, 5775 Jerusalem (c)

More on what really happened to Yitzchak Rabin, may his soul rest in peace.

Yitzchak Rabin’s minister of Health in 1995 was  a medical doctor. He was in the operating room, had seen Rabin’s body and its wounds. He served as a combat doctor in The IDF for several years, including during the Yom Kippur War. He was the government official who announced to the country outside the hospital that Rabin had died. As one can see in the videos of that night, the minister says The Prime Minister has died, after being shot three times: in the back, spleen and chest.

Years later, when an American news team asked this Dr.  why he said there were three shots including a chest wound, in contrast to the Shamgar report, which has two wounds and none in the chest, he replied, slowly, and looking very distraught, “Er… I think what I said then… is… eh… not very important now.”

Great explanation Doctor. Either you are a poor doctor or a good politician. But you can’t have your bullet and bite it too. Though I am sure the good doctor wishes very much he could bite the words he spoke on Israeli National TV that night in November 1995. But I disagree with the doctor’s demure later response to NBC quoted above that what he said then was not important now. Actually, I think it is highly significant. Because in the end, I think you probably are a better doctor than politician.

In 2008 this man started a new party and ran for the Knesset under the slogan “Now Let’s Fight Crime” (!) He was not successful. Listen, fighting crime starts at home, like charity, does it not?

Of course what he said on the night of the shooting was probably accurate. Too bad he was not man enough to stand by that later. But orders are orders, as the big Nazis said.

That first night, when Rabin accidentally died from the fake bullets, (see previous posts ) they had not time to iron out those little discrepancies yet. They probably also still did not know that the Comptroller’s Office had filmed the assassination.

My take on the matter is this. An old saying says “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush”. I would update it to say, “Two bullets in the Shamgar Report are worth three in the announcement of Dr. Bush.”

              

war doctor 1973                                With Rabin  1992

Why the Rabin Episode was hushed up…

posted by Chanoch Ne’eman 18 Tishri 5775 Jerusalem (c)

One of the questions which has troubled me for a long time about the Rabin Demise was: if indeed, as it seems, Rabin’s death was a fake assassination gone wrong, due to medical complications the Labor Party conspirators did not foresee (“Man proposes… And Hashem Disposes”), then why did not their political opponents, who they were trying to besmirch, not expose the plot post-facto? Surely the Right also has friends in the security establishment. They could not have been totally in the dark for long.

The whole Kemplar film, shown a month after the shooting, was probably part of this “negotiation” (a nice word for blackmail). After all, it was revealed that Roni Kemplar worked for the State Comptroller’s office, the office which investigates government corruption. He was made out to be some sort of amateur, who just by chance focused on Amir because he “seemed suspicious”. Kemplar was there to be able to call the bluff of the Left when they launched their “season” on the right after their phony assassination attempt.

The Labor Party did not talk about the assassination during the election that followed some months later. That was probably part of the agreement. Perhaps the leaders on the Right thought exposing the fake assassination attempt would be a hillul haShem on the world scene. Perhaps they wanted to keep something “useful” in their pocket for the future.

Personally, as my friends will suspect, I reject this type of judgement. It is similar, in my eyes, as saying I support a policy of “two states for two peoples”, when you really do not, but you want to appear “reasonable” in world circles, and you suspect/hope/are fairly certain that the Arabs will never be truly peaceful or trustworthy enough to give them that, so you can have your political cake and eat it too.

Not calling a spade a spade, ultimately, helps the spade to get blacker.

And what of Amir? He is waiting. When the political leaders who canned the truth are out of politics (The then head of Labor is already thank heavens), then he will get out. It will be about 25 years after the fact. See how he talks in interviews: In the beginning, rather than answering the reporter’s leading questions, he says, “Listen, there are much deeper questions here…” He also says it is comfortable for the Jewish section of the Shabak that he remains in solitary. And at the end, when the reporter asks how he will answer his child when he asks him, “Why did you do it Daddy?”, he answers, while being escorted out, “That will be a more genuine conversation.”

More on the Rabin Episode

by Chanoch Ne’eman 16 Tishrei, 5775 Jerusalem

There is so much related to the Rabin Demise that we could talk about it for days, but let us just take our doses lightly – a few items at a time. We do not want to overdose, it is not healthy. (Believe me, I’ve done it too many times).

Remember all those bumper stickers back in the Rabin day? “Yes to Peace, No to Violence”. That was the theme of that Sat. night rally.

I have Leah Rabin’s book, both in Hebrew and English. I remember in 1997 when it came out, seeing it at the Book Fair in Binyanai Hauma and thinking, after skimming it a bit, “Wow, what a political smear-job.” Then, some 16 years later, I saw it on someone’s bookshelf and started reading it. I then realized what an important historical document it is. I recommend buying it to those interested in history.

I think Leah Rabin is one of the few characters from the Rabin Dying episode who spoke honestly, without changing her story, about what happened that night. That is probably because the poor lady was out of the loop, not being told or realizing what was going on, only it was her husband who ended up in the grave.

She writes on page 11 of her book, “The last time I saw Yitzchak before the guards toppled him, he looked fine.”

On page ten she tells of how, as she was being driven from the scene of the shooting, she kept asking the security guards what happened, and they kept saying, “It wasn’t real.” She asked “where is Yitzchak?” They said “in the other car.” “Where?” she asked. “Behind us”. “What car?” “We don’t know”.

Sound suspicious?

How about that fact that no one shoots Amir? They push him over to the wall like they are playing tag.

In photos you see Leah Rabin right by Rabin as they come down the steps. Why does she stay there on the steps as he approaches the car?

Convenient that he is shot right by the entrance to his car. If you had someone shot would you not seek a medical crew? There was an ambulance nearby. I once met someone who said he was on the ambulance staff and that their tires had been deflated.

Okay enough for one day. It is Sukkot, we need to be happy.

Seeking the truth about the Rabin episode

posted by Chanoch Ne’eman, 16 Tishrei, 5775 Jerusalem

In a few weeks we will be coming up on the nineteenth yearzeit of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. Nov 4th I believe, on the English calendar. Let us, in honor of it, seek to understand what happened there.

I have wanted to know what really went on there for a long time. I have even prayed about it, that Hashem should give me insight and clarity to see the truth admist all the obvious contradictions and doublespeak surrounding that night.

And you know, Hashem does hear prayer. Some time ago, shortly after I had been intensely praying for several days that Hashem should help me to know the truth about the assassination, I got a call asking me to come give an estimate for cutting down some tree branches. (I have a small gardening business). The fellow calling was the head of a vaad bayit for a building here in Jerusalem. How did he get my number? He saw my ad on the Janglo website. This was one of only two responses I ever got from that ad.

So I ended up doing the tree work for them there. In the course of the conversation, I mentioned I guess something about the Rabin Assassination, probably telling him about our Baka History Club, and how we were meeting to discuss the assassination. So he starts to tell me about his opinion about the assassination. Turns out he is a doctor who made aliyah from America many years ago. He worked in the Israeli army as a reserve force doctor, and as part of that he worked with another doctor who was a ballistics expert. They were involved in weapons training in the army, and wrote a report for the IDF about the dangers of fake bullets, which the IDF had been largely unaware of.

People can die from blank bullets, he told me. This is what he believes happened with Rabin, and what I now believe as well. The concussive shock wave caused by the blast, if directed to the appropriate dermatome, can cause respiratory arrest.

After looking into this assassination over the past 19 years, I believe, in broad strokes, something along these lines happened:

A fake assassination was planned. To demonize the right, etc., as happened in many other instances back then, as those of us who were here remember. A living and non bullet laden Rabin got into the car after Amir’s blank shots. Two minutes later he went into respiratory arrest. They did not know what was up. They stopped someplace, or drove around, trying to get him breathing. Unsuccessfully. At some point, I do not know if it was before or after (or both) they showed up at Ichalov Hospital, someone put some real bullets into him. These were presumably in the stomach and chest, as was announced on the night of the death.

The rest of the details, which will eventually fill several long books, will come out in the coming years and decades, as this episode is sorted out.

The medical explanation, in more detail, you can read here. Please overlook the doctor’s use of phrases like “idiots”, etc., that is just his personality, you know how some doctors are.