Yitzhak Rabin assassination conspiracy theories
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Yitzhak Rabin assassination conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theorists Uri Barkan, Barry Chamish, Natan Geffen and David Morrison wrote books alleging that Amir's action was on the surface intended to have been a staged, unsuccessful assassination bid to rekindle Rabin's flagging popularity, and was subverted by other factions (variously ascribed to political opponents, or the Israeli Secret Services Shin Bet or Shabak) who added the fatal wounds later.
The right-wing conspiracy theories made some or all of the following claims:
* Police reports state that powder was found on Rabin's body and clothing, suggesting that he had been shot at point blank range (powder travels only inches before dispersing). Amir shot from a range at which no powder traces would have been left.
* Surgical notes describing a bullet wound which penetrated the front of the chest before impacting the spinal cord from inside, inconsistent with the witness reports and video evidence that Rabin was shot in his back while walking away from Yigal Amir.
* Rabin would have walked after Amir's shots in a manner inconsistent with gunshot, an impossibility if they shattered the vertebrae.
* The bullet path for a shot by Amir was implausible
* Each medical record describes wounds which are "completely different" in nature to those concluded by the official Shamgar Commission.
* Medical descriptions of Rabin's condition are described by Chamish as suddenly appearing to change.
* The view of Dr Guttman, a physician, that "[t]he first two wounds, to the chest and abdomen occurred before Rabin's arrival. The third, frontal chest wound, had to have been inflicted after he entered the hospital," and that "it is inconceivable that Rabin had no spinal damage. The six members of the operating team were too skilled to have all been wrong about that."
* Anecdotal reports of hospital staff expressing doubts as to the circumstances of that night.
* Amir fired one shot. But trauma from at least two, perhaps three separate shots were reported to his body.
* Three police officers who had been present testified that "when Yitzhak Rabin was placed in the car, he showed no visible wounds." (Gordon Thomas in his book "Gideon's Spies" adds: "The surgeons insisted there was no possible gunshot wound that would have allowed Rabin to leave the attack site showing no evidence of a wound and arrive at the hospital with multiple damage ... subsequently the doctors have refused to discuss the matter.")
* Rabin's car became "lost" for 22 minutes on a 45-second drive to hospital by a highly experienced chauffeur, on clear cordoned-off streets. The distance between the murder site and hospital can be walked in five minutes.
* Police ballistics tests on shell casings found at the scene did not match Amir's gun.
* Powder traces (almost inevitably present if the suspect has shot genuine bullets [not blanks] from a handgun) were not found on Amir's hands, clothing or hair.
* No blood was seen coming from Rabin at the scene, despite wounds to his lung and spleen, nor was any found later at that location. (By contrast witnesses describe blood "gushing" from a chest wound upon arriving at hospital)
* Witnesses stated that Amir shouted, "It's nothing ... they're blanks. It's a toy gun."
* A Shin Bet (secret service) agent testified that "I heard a policeman shout to people to calm down. The shot is a blank."
* Policeman Moshe Ephron stated: "The shots didn't sound natural. If they were real shots, they should have sounded much louder."
* Leah Rabin stated her husband did not stagger and fall after apparently being shot at close range. "He was standing and looking very well." She also said that she was kept from seeing her husband for a full hour and was told by an Israeli security chief that she "should not worry as the whole thing had been staged."
* Amir's comment at a court hearing, "If I tell the truth, the whole system will collapse. I know enough to destroy this country."
Yitzhak Rabin assassination conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theorists Uri Barkan, Barry Chamish, Natan Geffen and David Morrison wrote books alleging that Amir's action was on the surface intended to have been a staged, unsuccessful assassination bid to rekindle Rabin's flagging popularity, and was subverted by other factions (variously ascribed to political opponents, or the Israeli Secret Services Shin Bet or Shabak) who added the fatal wounds later.
The right-wing conspiracy theories made some or all of the following claims:
* Police reports state that powder was found on Rabin's body and clothing, suggesting that he had been shot at point blank range (powder travels only inches before dispersing). Amir shot from a range at which no powder traces would have been left.
* Surgical notes describing a bullet wound which penetrated the front of the chest before impacting the spinal cord from inside, inconsistent with the witness reports and video evidence that Rabin was shot in his back while walking away from Yigal Amir.
* Rabin would have walked after Amir's shots in a manner inconsistent with gunshot, an impossibility if they shattered the vertebrae.
* The bullet path for a shot by Amir was implausible
* Each medical record describes wounds which are "completely different" in nature to those concluded by the official Shamgar Commission.
* Medical descriptions of Rabin's condition are described by Chamish as suddenly appearing to change.
* The view of Dr Guttman, a physician, that "[t]he first two wounds, to the chest and abdomen occurred before Rabin's arrival. The third, frontal chest wound, had to have been inflicted after he entered the hospital," and that "it is inconceivable that Rabin had no spinal damage. The six members of the operating team were too skilled to have all been wrong about that."
* Anecdotal reports of hospital staff expressing doubts as to the circumstances of that night.
* Amir fired one shot. But trauma from at least two, perhaps three separate shots were reported to his body.
* Three police officers who had been present testified that "when Yitzhak Rabin was placed in the car, he showed no visible wounds." (Gordon Thomas in his book "Gideon's Spies" adds: "The surgeons insisted there was no possible gunshot wound that would have allowed Rabin to leave the attack site showing no evidence of a wound and arrive at the hospital with multiple damage ... subsequently the doctors have refused to discuss the matter.")
* Rabin's car became "lost" for 22 minutes on a 45-second drive to hospital by a highly experienced chauffeur, on clear cordoned-off streets. The distance between the murder site and hospital can be walked in five minutes.
* Police ballistics tests on shell casings found at the scene did not match Amir's gun.
* Powder traces (almost inevitably present if the suspect has shot genuine bullets [not blanks] from a handgun) were not found on Amir's hands, clothing or hair.
* No blood was seen coming from Rabin at the scene, despite wounds to his lung and spleen, nor was any found later at that location. (By contrast witnesses describe blood "gushing" from a chest wound upon arriving at hospital)
* Witnesses stated that Amir shouted, "It's nothing ... they're blanks. It's a toy gun."
* A Shin Bet (secret service) agent testified that "I heard a policeman shout to people to calm down. The shot is a blank."
* Policeman Moshe Ephron stated: "The shots didn't sound natural. If they were real shots, they should have sounded much louder."
* Leah Rabin stated her husband did not stagger and fall after apparently being shot at close range. "He was standing and looking very well." She also said that she was kept from seeing her husband for a full hour and was told by an Israeli security chief that she "should not worry as the whole thing had been staged."
* Amir's comment at a court hearing, "If I tell the truth, the whole system will collapse. I know enough to destroy this country."
posted by David Ben-Ariel at 10:30 PM
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