Skip to main content

Israeli right tries to bully Rabin family into silence

The right is trying to distance the Rabin family from the commemoration of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as it plays down the incitement to violence that lead to his death.
RTR1A28R.jpg
Read in 

This week’s Memorial Day commemorating the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin showed that large swaths of the right deny that there was any incitement campaign against Rabin in the days and weeks leading up to his assassination. Their denial is part of a larger pushback against any criticism of the right’s dangerous policies under the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This effort culminated with Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich (HaBayit HaYehudi) launching a campaign to ban the Rabin family from speaking at the official memorial service for the assassinated prime minister. It came in response to a scathing speech by Rabin’s granddaughter Noa Rotman, in which she charged Netanyahu and his ministers with learning nothing from what happened, so that calls of “traitor” have been extended to anyone who criticizes the policies of Netanyahu and the right. “Don’t keep repeating here that Rabin wasn’t a traitor,” she said. “In Israel, criticism is considered treason. If you don’t stop the incitement path of division, partisanship and attacks, blood will be again spilled here.”

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.