Israeli to Be Indicted for Failure to Prevent Assassination of Rabin
An informer for Israel’s intelligence agency who befriended Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin will be indicted on charges he failed to stop the killing, Israel’s attorney general said Wednesday.
The announcement by Atty. Gen. Elyakim Rubinstein came exactly three years after Jewish ultranationalist Yigal Amir shot and killed the prime minister as he was leaving a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
Rubinstein identified the suspect as Avishai Raviv, once an informer for the Shin Bet security services. Raviv faces a maximum two-year sentence if convicted.
Raviv was aware of Amir’s intention to kill Rabin and did not tell his Shin Bet handlers about it, Rubinstein said at a news conference. Raviv founded the radical group Eyal and was known for leading virulent protests against Rabin.
Rubinstein said, however, that Raviv will not be charged as an accomplice because he did not know Amir’s specific plans to shoot Rabin on the night of Nov. 4, 1995.
Raviv will also be charged with encouraging violent acts and inciting to racism, a result of his activities in Eyal, Rubinstein said.
Another Amir friend, Margalit Harshefi, was sentenced in September to nine months in jail for failing to prevent the assassination.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
