NATION/WORLD
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, November 6,1995
7A
Failed security blamed for Rabin's death
Assassin was mistaken for VIP driver
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM — How could it happen?
No country puts more emphasis on security than Israel. The Shin Bet secret service built an enviable reputation for protecting its leaders and preventing terrorist attacks.
Security broke down, however,
when bodyguards apparently mistook a young law student for a VIP driver and let him get close enough to shoot Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin with a 9mm Beretta. Questions also were being asked about why Rabin was not wearing a bulletproof vest.
It wasn't as if there wasn't ample warning that an attack might come from Israel's religious right wing. The suspect had links to right-wing extremists.
In recent weeks, angry debate over the future of the West Bank spilled into the streets with right-wingers heckling Rabin at public appearances, calling him a "murderer," "Nazi" and "traitor."
Yossi Melman, an author and expert on intelligence, said security was a total failure because the handwriting has been on the wall for the past month.
Gideon Ezrach, former deputy head of the Shin Bet, said he thought that when Rabin was in the Arab West Bank town of Nabulus, his bodyguards were more psychologically alert than in Tel Aviv.
"I also think that we all did not believe that such a thing could happen," Ezrach said.
The security instead focused on Palestinian militants, especially Islamic extremists who had threatened to get even for Rabin's reported decision to order the recent execution of Fathi Shakaki, the Islamic Jihad leader, in Malta.
"Iraeli security underestimated the dangers of the Jewish right and instead focused on Palestinian terror," said Ziad Abad Biaz, a Palestinian peace negotiator. "Jewish fanaticism and terrorism is not less dangerous than Palestinian."
An official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Rabin refused to wear a bulletproof vest. Melman said the Shin Bet should have insisted that he wear one. The shots might not have been fatal if he had.
But Ehud Sprinzak, a professor of political science at Hebrew University, said Rabin would have refused to wear a vest anyway.
"We are talking about a very old
soldier who went through all kinds of dangers in his life. He did not consider an assassination a serious danger," Sprinzak said.
Israeli experts said the 27-year-old law student who confessed to the assassination, Yigal Amir, fit almost exactly the Shin Bint's profile for an attacker — a fringe activist with no record of violent behavior.
Zeev Schiff, a military affairs writer for the daily Haaretz newspaper, wrote that the concern was not that an underground right-wing group would plan a murder and send killers against Rabin.
"The most likely scenario spoke of a man who belonged to no particular group, who had no record with authorities, someone who was aroused by the incitement of those presenting the prime minister as a traitor." Schiff said.
The Shin Bet had appealed to major political parties in recent weeks to curb the rhetoric of
incitement and tried to get Rabin to cut down on public visits.
"Those responsible for security tried to limit his movements. He
Knight-Ridder Tribune
told them the answer was not bodyguards but an end to the incitment that causes violence in every sphere," Schiff said.
World leaders mourn Rabin
Prime minister praised as courageous, dedicated
The Associated Press
LONDON — The most fitting tribute to Yitzhak Rabin would be to continue his quest for peace in the Middle East, world leaders said yesterday as they mourned the slain Israeli prime minister.
Rabin, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for making peace with Palestinians, was shot to death Saturday night by a right-wing Israeli after speaking at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
"Yitzhak Rabin himself always emphasized that
Yuznak Raoon hinnan seew the opponents of the peace process should never be allowed to stop the process with violence, no matter how loathsome," said Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson.
The pope ended his regular Sunday remarks from his window overlooking St. Peter's Square with the words: Peace, Shalom.
Pope John Paul II expressed hope that this serious and sad event would not irreparably disturb the search for peace in the Middle East but instead would be a new stimulus.
Jana described Rabin as a terrorist whose hands were covered in the blood of the martys
Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanja ii called the assassination God's warning to humanity.
"According to a principle of belief, we believe that whoever unsheathes the sword of tyranny will be killed by the same sword," Rafsanjani said, according to Iranian radio.
Condolences flooded into Israel from all parts of the world,from presidents and monarchs alike.
Rabin was aware of the danger to his life, said German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
"But, for him, it was important that every chance was used to finally bring peace for the people of the region that was affected by so much
United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali condemned the assassination as an outrageous act of terror that claimed the life of one of the greatest leaders in Israeli history.
suffering." he said.
Hashemi Rafsanjani Iranian president
But hard-line opponents of Rabin called his death by gunfire a fitting end for the old Israeli war hero. The Libyan government news agency
President Julio Maria Sanguinetti of Uruguay decreed two days of national mourning for Rabin, calling him a great statesman, courageous military man and dedicated democrat.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, recovering from heart troubles in a Moscow hospital, called the assassination an attempt to rip apart the movement toward peace in the Middle East and push the Middle East into an abyss of blood and suffering.
French President Jacques Chirac was hopeful in a
telegram to Israeli President Ezer Weizman: "I am sure that his sacrifice will not have been in vain and that his work will be carried on successfully by those who have the heavy task of leading your country towards peace in a reconciled Middle East."
South African President Nelson Mandela hailed
"This criminal act, which we condemn in the strongest terms, can only have been carried out by those who have no interest in the genuine welfare of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples," Mandela said.
Rabin as a true peacemaker who has fallen at the hands of forces of bigotry and offered to do what he could to assist the Middle East peace process.
Asian reaction was more muted but echoed the need to continue the peace process.
"I sincerely hope that the prime minister's strong will toward peace will be taken over by the Israeli people," said Japanese Prime Minister Tomichi Murayama.
Attendance list
More than 40 past and present world leaders will attend the funeral of Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl cemetery today.
- President Clinton
- Egyptian President Hoani Mubarak
- King Hussein of Jordan
Rabin: Israel's future unclear
- Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin
- British Prime Minister John Major
- British Prime Minister John Major
Prince Charles
- Prince Charles
* French President Jacques Chirac
- French President Jacques Chirac
- Secretary of State Warren Christopher
Rabin's death raised immediate questions about the future of Middle East peacemaking, especially the Israel-PLO autonomy agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from most West Bank towns and villages by the end of the year.
- Secretary of State Warren Christopher
- Former presidents Jimmy Carter
"There were many writings on the wall, but still we felt this could not happen to us," said Chaim Ramon, chief of the powerful Histadrut Trade Union Federation.
- Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien
- Former secretaries of state James Baker and Henry Kiesinger
- Georzian leader Eduard Shevardnadze
*George Naerer Exxon Sweatdance*
*U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Ghali*
Some delays were possible as Rabin's successor, Shimon Peres, put together a caretaker government.
- Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
Dubbed "Mr. Security," Rabin's peacemaking with the PLO earned him the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Peres and PLO chief Yasir Arafat. But the political climate had turned unusually venomous in recent months over the planned West Bank withdrawal, and Rabin became the target of increasing vitriol by Israel's right wing, which called him a traitor and compared him to a Nazi.
Rabin's coffin, draped with the blue-and-white flag bearing the Star of David, was placed on a black bier in the plaza outside the parliament building. Rabin's widow, Leah, supported by her son, Yuval, and daughter Dalia, slowly walked toward the coffin. From time to time, she buried her tear-stained face in her hands and slumped on Yuval's shoulder.
Yuval Rabin quietly recited the Kaddish, or prayer for the dead.
out into the streets for miles.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis filled the Knesset plaza and spilled
Rabin's funeral was to bring Jordan's King Hussein and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt — two Arab leaders who have not visited the disputed city, claimed by the Palestinians as a future capital. An official visit to Jerusalem is seen by the Arab world as recognition of the city as Israel's capital.
Arafat, Rabin's most important peace partner, said he would not come to Jerusalem for the service, citing the complicated security operation Israel would have to mount if he were there.
Arafat has not visited Jerusalem since Palestinian self-rule began 18 months ago because his presence there would aggravate the sensitive issue of sovereignty over the city, which both Palestinians and Israelis claim as their capital.
In Lebanon and in Iran, militants opposed to PLO peacemaking cheered the news of Rabin's death.
The rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday was intended to bolster support for Rabin's peacemaking efforts. About 100,000 Israelis showed up at the Kings of Israel Square to encourage him to go on.
Shortly after the rally broke up, Rabin left the stage and was approaching his car. There, the gunman waited, pretending to be a VIP driver. He fired three shots from a 9mm Beretta pistol from close range and struck Rabin in the back and stomach. The prime minister died an hour later, at 11:11 p.m. on a hospital operating table.
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