In first interview since his release from prison, brother of Rabin's murderer expresses no regret, says he was following halacha.
By JPOST.COM STAFFHagai Amir is released from prison 370 (photo credit: Screenshot Channel Ten)
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.”
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