Yitzhak Rabin's assassin Yigal Amir to request retrial
"A defense team is being set up to prepare and submit a request for a retrial for Yigal Amir."
By YONAH JEREMY BOB, ARIK BENDERUpdated: NOVEMBER 19, 2017 11:48Twenty years on: Sketches from Yigal Amir trial reveal a murderer's smile
Yigal Amir's wife posted on Facebook on Saturday night that her husband, who murdered prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, is assembling a legal team to seek a retrial of his conviction for the murder."I wish to update that, at this time, a defense team is being set up to prepare and submit a request for a retrial for Yigal Amir," wrote Larisa Trembovler."The action is being taken with permission and authorization after Amir gave his consent," Trembovler added.Trembovler did not identify who the lawyers were, any legal strategy or any timeline, but she did say that public relations relating to the process would be handled by a firm in Switzerland. She then posted that the firm would not be providing information to the Israeli press, while also providing the firm's email address.Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett responded to the announcement on Twitter: "The murderer of the prime minister must end his days in prison. On this topic, there is no Right or Left. Every murder is terrible, but the murder of a prime minister can dismantle the country."Zionist Union MK Itzik Shmuli told Ma'ariv: "Yigal Amir is a despicable murderer and must die in prison. He didn't just shoot the prime minister in the back, he shot the entire country in the back. Better to leave the rot deep inside prison and not expose it once again to the public."Chairwoman of Meretz Zahava Gal-On said "instead of dealing with the foolish idea of a retrial, this is the opportunity to put on trial those rabbis who were partners to the murder. Yigal Amir said in Shin Bet questioning that without the support of the rabbis, he would not have murdered Rabin. And these rabbis continue freely and continue to incite."Amir murdered Rabin on November 4, 1995, at the conclusion of a peace rally in Tel Aviv under the banner "Yes to Peace, No to Violence." He was caught immediately and handed over to the Shin Bet security services for questioning, where he cooperated and expressed his pleasure at his success.A Tel Aviv court handed Amir a life sentence and another six years for injuring a security guard. He never expressed regret over the murder, and in a 2004 interview, Amir emphasized his opinion that he acted in a correct manner and saved the Jewish people.