Comments (0)Amir TV Interview Pulled
November 4, 2008Jerusalem
JTA Wire Service
Two Israeli TV channels canceled planned broadcasts of an interview with Yitzhak Rabin’s killer. After brief excerpts from the interview with Yigal Amir were aired Thursday evening by two Israeli TV stations as promos, Rabin family members and broadcast officials reacted furiously, prompting the TV networks, Israel’s Channel Two and 10, to cancel plans to broadcast the full interview. During the interview, Amir reveals that he got the idea to murder Rabin after the two were both guests at a wedding, and Amir realized that the prime minister was protected by a single bodyguard. “I was inside with a gun. I saw that it was so easy and told myself that in several years I would regret not having killed him,” Amir said. The Israeli Prison Service reportedly revoked Amir’s phone privileges until further notice because he did not ask for permission to be interviewed.
Israel Approves Stricter Outpost Measures
The Israeli government approved stricter measures against Jewish outposts in the West Bank. During Sunday’s Cabinet meeting, government ministers agreed to remove all support for the outposts, including funding or providing infrastructure. The plan also will include an increase in monitoring settler activities, the demolition of illegal structures in the West Bank and an expedited process to arrest settlers who break the law, including administrative injunctions and restraining orders. The agreement came after Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin on Sunday warned the Cabinet, on the eve of the anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a right-wing extremist, that another political assassination could occur in the near future. Several ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon and National Infrastructures Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, spoke at the meeting about settler violence against the army. A committee representing settlers will file a complaint against Ramon and Ben-Eliezer with Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, claiming that their remarks constituted libel and incitement against settlers.
Abbas: No Peace Deal in 2008
Israelis and the Palestinians will not reach a peace deal in 2008, Mahmoud Abbas said. The Palestinian Authority president said Monday that the two sides will not be able to strike an accord by the target date set by Washington. Abbas made the statement before the start of a two-day visit to Romania, Reuters reported. “I don’t think it’s possible to clear an accord by the end of this year, as both the U.S. and the Israeli administrations are now busy with other matters and the very short time does not allow for striking such a deal,” Abbas said, according to Reuters. Israeli President Shimon Peres said last month that a peace deal was unlikely this year.
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.