Rabin Assassin’s Lawyers Seek to Show He Was Incited by Informant

Attorneys defending Yitzhak Rabin’s confessed assassin tried Sunday to prove their client was egged on by a suspected secret service informant.

Judge Edmond Levy, meanwhile, ordered lawyers to be ready with their closing arguments in a week.

Yigal Amir’s three attorneys have split his defense into separate lines: trying to prove he was unbalanced when he shot the prime minister on Nov. 4; exposing alleged inconsistencies in police reports; and emphasizing the role of Avishai Raviv, the alleged informant.

Raviv, who according to media reports worked for Israel’s Shin Bet secret service, is known as the founder of Eyal, an extreme-right Jewish group with which Amir was loosely linked. On Sunday, Amir’s lawyers called a former roommate of Raviv to the stand in an attempt to prove Raviv had incited their client.

Raviv “egged Yigal Amir on,” Eran Ojalbou said. “Avishai Raviv would agitate against Arabs and politicians. . . . He called Rabin a traitor.”

Amir has said he wanted to either kill or seriously injure Rabin to stop Israel’s peacemaking with the Palestinians, which he believed would lead to the destruction of Israel. He faces life in prison if convicted.

Defense lawyer Shmuel Flishman said there were inconsistencies in psychiatric evaluations that found Amir fit to stand trial. Another clinical psychologist is expected to testify Tuesday, when the trial resumes.