A Nachal Chareidi soldier was ousted from the unit for daring to state he supported the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin as the nation marks the 20th anniversary of that murder.

According to the Haaretz report, the soldier justified the murder of the prime minister as he was exiting a memorial service for him. “Rabin could have been killed years earlier for he took part in the shooting that claimed lives on the Altalenu”.

Colleagues of the soldier is lives in a yishuv in the Southern Hebron Hills told their superior who recommended ousting the soldier and the decision was made by the commander of the officers’ training base, Colonel Alaluf. Attorney Itamar Ben-Givir sent a letter to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkott calling upon him to reverse the decision and reinstate the soldier in command training course.

Ben-Givir points out “We are certainly not dealing with a seditious statement and reports that he justified the assassination are untrue. He did not justify killing Rabin but during a private conversation expressed his protest against a battalion commander who brought up the matter of the Altalenu and he stated that Rabin could have been killed there if the people on board the ship were not as responsible as they were”.

Ben-Givir added “This is certainly not incitement, and at worst, an opinion and under these circumstances there is no place for ousting the cadet from the officer’s training program. His dismissal appears more political in nature and perhaps based on his place of residence and perhaps because he is not counted among the Rabin supporters”.

“In the State of Israel, including in the IDF, one may not be a fan of a political personality and to the best of my knowledge the IDF has yet to become the Iranian Revolutionary Army and on based on this reality my client should be reinstated in the program for not only was this an injustice, but it was against the law. This applies to all and most certainly this soldier, who has been cited for excellence many times and often praised by his superiors”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)