Amir to remain in solitary confinement

Yigal Amir during Thursday's court hearing in Tel Aviv into the assassin's request to attend his son's circumcision. (photo credit: AP)
Yigal Amir during Thursday's court hearing in Tel Aviv into the assassin's request to attend his son's circumcision.
(photo credit: AP)

The Nazareth District Court on Monday extended by six months the solitary confinement of Yigal Amir, serving a life sentence plus 14 years for murdering prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Yigal Amir during Thursday's...
Yigal Amir during Thursday's...

Yigal Amir during Thursday's court hearing in Tel Aviv into the assassin's request to attend his son's circumcision. Photo: AP

Amir had requested last week to be moved from his cell at Ramle's Ayalon Prison to the facility's religious section.

His solitary confinement was due to end on July 9, but the state asked for it to be extended since Amir was proselytizing his extreme right-wing theories to other inmates.

Since killing Rabin in 1996, Amir has been kept in isolation.

Judge Yitzhak Cohen said that claims that Amir is cut-off from the world are baseless, as he receives phone calls from family members, gets to meet privately with his wife and is visited by his close family while being held in solitary confinement.

"Although this is a long period of solitary confinement," the judge wrote, adding that he is convinced that the decision not to allow Amir to live in a cell with other inmates is in line with "the correct and just balance between the inmate's rights and the public interests and safety."

Following the court's decision, Amir may file an appeal with the High Court.