In his first interview since being released from prison on May 4, Hagai Amir
said that he does not regret his role in the 1995 assassination of prime
minister Yitzhak Rabin because his actions were in accordance with Jewish
law.
In an interview published by +972 Magazine on Sunday, Amir, who was
released after serving 16 years in jail, revealed that he and his brother Yigal
thought about killing Rabin for two years before Yigal did so, an act he
described as a “mitzva.”
Hagai Amir also predicted the impending
destruction of Israel because of its secular character, saying “no one can
change anything now. It is too late.”
He attributed this inevitability to
Israel’s “regime,” which he said had not changed its ways since his
incarceration and was thus causing “a slow yet steady disintegration of the
state.”
Broadly outlining his ideology, Amir said “the Jewish state has
importance, but the state of the Jews has no justification to exist.”
“A
Jewish state is one that cherishes Jewish values – the Sabbath, studying the
Torah and so on. The state of the Jews is ruled by people who are only Jews,
with no obligation to Judaism, which is basically what this state is.”
He
implied that this state of affairs justified murdering Rabin, Israel’s secular
figurehead.
“I would fight shoulder to shoulder with those Jews on their
land if they themselves were willing to fight for their homes,” Amir said. “But
this is not the case, unfortunately. The settlers today are not willing to fight
for their homes... 99 percent are not willing to fight, as you saw in the [2005
Gaza] disengagement.”
While Hagai Amir admitted that he is “against
returning land, especially if Jews live on it,” he did not kill Rabin because
the premier was an advocate of a two-state solution with the
Palestinians.
When asked whether he and his brother achieved their goals,
Amir responded “some.”
He said that while it was still too early to tell,
he and his brother acted with good intentions and on behalf of the Jewish
people, and that “at the end of the day, a good intention does not go to waste
and it will bear fruits.”
Amir also confirmed that he and his brother
remain “very close” and that he is proud of his brother’s actions. He concluded
that he will “not rest until [Yigal] is released.”