The wife of Jewish extremist Yigal Amir, the convicted assassin who shot and killed former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, has joined the contested argument that her incarcerated husband did not kill the late leader in a "political murder."
In an interview with radio station 103FM, Larisa Trembovler stated that what she regards as a political assassination is one intended to change the leadership.
She further asserted that Amir's desire to thwart Rabin's efforts toward the peace process with the Palestinians, rather than bring about the rise of a new leading politician, detract from calling the killing a political assassination.
"It was not a political murder in the pure sense. A political murder is done in order to bring about a change in power and that was not Yigal's goal," she told the radio station. "Yigal wanted to stop a process which he believed was costing and would cost countless lives. He did not want the Likud or any other political party to take power, he just wanted the bloodshed to stop."
Asked about the influence of rampant incitement against Rabin by the Israeli far-right over the Oslo Accords, Larisa Trembovler refuted the radical influence on Amir saying there has been "21 years of brainwashing on this issue."
"Yigal saw that all the protests, hunger strikes, the fact that half the nation was against Oslo, he saw that a drastic move was the only way to stop the [peace] process, and what happened happened" she said of her husband's actions.
Trembovler's remarks came in light of comments made by coalition chairman MK David Bitan, who on Saturday said that Rabin's murder was not political.
"I was asked about what David Bitan said, and he is right," she said in the interview.
When asked if she expected her husband to be released soon, Trembovler responded by saying: "I am praying for it. He deserves to be released."