Brother of Rabin’s Killer Says He Lied

Hagai Amir, accused of helping plot Yitzhak Rabin’s murder, told an Israeli court Wednesday that he gave a false confession because he wanted to spend life in prison with his brother Yigal, who shot the prime minister.

Hagai and Yigal Amir are standing trial--along with a third suspect, Dror Adani--on charges of conspiring to assassinate Rabin in order to halt Middle East peace moves. Another court has already convicted Yigal of murder.

“I lived with him in the same room for 26 years. I just couldn’t see myself going back to my own bed when he’s absent from the bed next to mine,” said Hagai, 27.

Police arrested Hagai a day after his brother fatally shot Rabin at a Tel Aviv peace rally in November. Days later, investigators found grenades and explosives Hagai had amassed in the Amir home and said he had made the bullets used in the assassination.

Yigal Amir also took the stand Wednesday, but the chief magistrate briefly halted his stormy testimony and threatened to charge him with contempt of court. Yigal spent much of his murder trial venting his politics from the witness stand and drawing rebukes from judges.