Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan does not agree with the Defense Ministry decision to suspend a Nachal Chareidi soldier who spoke out indicating he was not troubled by the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. The soldier’s statement came as the nation marked the 20th anniversary of the assassination.

The soldier, who lives in a yishuv in the Hebron Hills, was represented by Honenu attorney Itamar Ben-Givir, who explained the statements were not seditious and despite media reports to the contrary, he did not justify the assassination, but during a private conversation raised the mater of the Altalenu and that if the people on board the board were not as careful as they were, Rabin could have been killed.

A member of Ben-Dahan’s Bayit Leumi party, MK Betzalel Smotrich posed a query in Knesset regarding the matter in which he said to Ben-Dahan “One does not have to be an expert in body language to understand you are opposed to the decision”. MK (Yesh Atid) Elazar Stern, who was in Knesset at the time responded “If this is so you do not have to be deputy defense minister”.

In his response, Ben-Dahan stated “After 20 years have passed since the assassination, I think we are compelled as a society to learn how to deal with those who do not agree with the policies of Rabin but still condemn the assassination in the same breath”.

Ben-Dahan added “There is a difference between not agreeing with a political path and aversion to condemning the murder. The words of the soldier who did not support the murder are not seditious and remain an opinion between friends in a room and there was room for latitude and not hitting him with the full weight of the law and without a doubt, not to remove him from the course and as a combat soldier”.

“Today, it is clear beyond any doubt that the killer was a single individual who relied on his teacher or rav. It has been clearly stated that Yigal Amir was a single person and not part of the dati leumi community. The harsh accusations against the religious Zionist community must stop”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)