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- I had dreaded reading Carmi Gillon's book about the Rabin
assassination because of the anger it would generate within me. Instead,
after reading it, I just felt pity for the head of the Shabak, (General
Security Services), at the time of the murder. That's because his lying
version of the events is so pathetic. Even the extreme left-wing Haaretz
newspaper condemned the book in its weekend paper, in two separate columns,
for being self-serving and insincere.
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- Of course, Haaretz is incapable of reporting what actually
befell Rabin so the criticism was typically shallow. Nonetheless, it's
becoming clear that nobody likes this book. Poor Carmi. Here are a few
of the lies that illustrate his desperate need to free himself of the widely
perceived burden that he was a conspirator in the murder.
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- - Gillon writes that he only met Avishai Raviv, Yigal
Amir's partner in provocation and the highest ranking Shabak infiltrator
in the anti-Oslo camp, once. Gillon served as head of the Jewish Department
which ran Raviv for five years but he only ran into his most valued informer
one time and that was accidentally. And that's the best he can offer to
save his worthless skin.
-
- - Gillon insists that he ordered the surveillance and
repression of left and right wing radical groups equally. He adds that
he personally preferred the right wingers because at least their motives
were patriotic. In all the years that Gillon ran the Jewish Department
and then the whole Shabak, I can't think of one left wing activist who
was arrested. But I can think of a lot of right wingers, all innocent of
crimes, who were incarcerated without charge. Shall we begin with the 17
members of the phoney Jewish underground, all later released as innocents,
the Kahalani brothers, recently released from prison for alleged good behaviour,
Shmuel Cytryn, who served four months in solitary confinement for publicly
exposing Raviv as a Shabak officer etc. etc. Gillon's attempt at equanimity
is, well, pathetic again.
-
- - Gillon claims he advised PM Peres to open a public
inquiry into the Rabin murder. Not according to every other source I've
read. He tried to head off such an inquiry with a self-cleansing internal
investigation and only public pressure forced Peres to reject this ploy
and initiate his rigged Shamgar Commission Of Inquiry.
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- - When informed of the murder, Gillon was told, "And
you won't believe it, he's from Herzlia." Gillon explains that he
had previously told numerous people that, "The assassin could come
from Herzlia or Dimona." Nice try Carmi but it won't fly. In late
August 1995, Gillon informed a gathering of reporters that Rabin's life
was in danger and the potential assassin could be, "a dark skinned
Sephardic student of Bar Ilan University who lives in Herzlia." Every
point true to the patsy Yigal Amir. A statistician informed me that according
to his computations, the odds of Gillon getting all the information right
without knowing that Amir was being set up to take the rap were some 24
million to one.
-
- - The Italian journalist Aldo Baquis called me and emphasized
just how badly Gillon handled the issue of Shlomi Halevy. He was a soldier
from the Intelligence Brigade who, in early July 1995, was informed of
Amir's vocal threats against Rabin and reported them to the Shabak. Aldo
pointed out that on page 256, Gillon claims that it was a shame the Shabak
didn't take Halevy seriously. Just three pages later, he does an about-turn,
writing that the Shabak did take Halevy very seriously and were on the
lookout of a curly-haired Yemenite at the rally.
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- Now here is where Gillon gets good and tripped up on
his lies. He claims that based on Halevy's meager description, it was impossible
to identify Amir because, "there are lots of curly-haired Yemenites."
What he forgets to mention but Halevy didn't, is that he told the Shabak
Amir was a member of the radical organization Eyal. If they had wanted
to, the Shabak could have arrested Amir that day. What Halevy didn't know
was that Eyal was a straw group created by the Shabak, led by the Shabak
officer Avishai Raviv, and its social director was the Shabak asset Yigal
Amir. But Gillon sure as heck knew all that and it's not in the book. All
that appears is one more pathetic falsehood.
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- My friend, the journalist and author Joel Bainerman phoned
with another observation; even the insignificant points in the book look
made up. Gillon begins his flawed attempt at a masterpiece of deceit with
the following story:
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- Four days before the assassination Rabin sent Gillon
to Paris to meet with French Intelligence. They were worried about Algerian
terrorists and needed the advice of an Israeli expert. Rabin felt good
relations with the French were vital and ordered Gillon to go, despite
the security concerns about the upcoming Tel Aviv rally.
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- Joel points out that Rabin despised the French and made
no secret of his feelings. He felt that they were conniving with Peres
to overthrow him. But as Joel astutely noted, at least Gillon backed my
claim of the past four and a half years that Gillon was in Paris meeting
with French Intelligence. However, I more than suspect that the meetings
had nothing to do with Algeria and a lot to do with overthrowing Rabin.
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- Gillon's chronology of the assassination night runs like
this: At 10:00 PM, Israel time, while he was on the way to the airport,
the chief of personal security Benny Lahav phoned him to tell him Rabin
was shot. He got on the plane stunned. He had planned to arrive in Israel
in the wee hours of the morning and inspect El Al security but cancelled
the plan. Instead, he was left all alone in his thoughts. The El Al stewardesses
knew who he was and did not disturb him during the whole flight.
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- These are the delusions of a cornered rat. Nothing rings
true. According to his arrest record, Amir was in custody at 9:30. Shamgar
puts the time at 9:40. So the head of the Shabak had to wait between twenty
minutes to half an hour to be informed of the shooting. And shucks, that
ruined his plan to get off a five hour flight and inspect El Al security
at 3 AM. Officially, all of a few dozen people outside the Shabak knew
Gillon's identity and position. Publishing these facts was a criminal offence.
Yet all the El Al hostesses were all in on the secret and were so concerned
they broke international airline regulations and didn't disturb Gillon
for five hours, not even when drinks and dinner were served.
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- And that's how desperate this pitiful creep is! Here's
Gillon's strategy. He blames the government for not taking the recommendations
of the first Shamgar coverup, the Commission Of Inquiry Into The Hebron
Massacre, seriously. He blames Rabin for not listening to him and wearing
a bullet-proof vest. But most of all, he blames his underling Shabak officers
and the bodyguards under their command for being so ill-prepared to stop
the murder.
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- The guilty Shabak officers in Gillon's version of the
true conspiracy are Head Of Personnel, Dror Yitzhaki, and by the way, he
is not alone in his suspicions, they are shared by some investigating the
truth about the murder; the Head Of Personal Security, Benny Lahav; Head
Of Operations, Adi Azoulai and Commander Of Rally Security, Yoram Rubin,
who is by far my leading candidate as the real murderer of Rabin.
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- The only person who comes out squeaky clean is Shimon
Peres, whom Gillon falsely claims was almost a victim of murder at the
rally as well. Gillon recommended the suspension of these four officers
and Peres agreed, and this is telling, "though he was closely associated
with all of them."
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- That is Gillon's way out and in all likelihood, he is
immune from retaliation because everyone he attacks is hiding his own assassination
secrets. The strategy he employs is actually clever. Though he seemingly
attacks Shamgar for not going far enough in his inquiry, all his facts
about the murder are directly quoted from the Shamgar Commission. An example;
he repeats over and over again Shamgar's false finding that Rabin was shot
from half a meter's distance. The Israel Police Criminal Laboratory proved
beyond doubt that Rabin was shot point blank. But since Amir never, ever
shot from point blank range, he does not include the truth.
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- One reading of this miserable exercise is Gillon is hinting
that his trip to Paris was arranged to get him out of the way so his underlings
could get on with their hanky panky. Another, more likely reading, is the
Shabak fell apart when he wasn't there.
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- And that is the true sophistication of the book. By blaming
Shamgar and Rabin's bodyguards, he is reinforcing the lie that the assassination
was all a big snafu. He should be made to know, it won't work. One day,
he will himself, be investigated for his real role in Rabin's murder.
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- * * *
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- Stay tuned folks, another book review is on the way and
the task will be more pleasant. The Zionist Book Club has just published
Ori Barkan's classic book Srak, which is a fictionalized but far more accurate
version of the Rabin assassination. The book was an Internet hit, which
made headlines two years ago when a review appeared in the newspaper Hatsofe.
Peres called the book, "a blood libel." It's only in Hebrew now
but for those who read the holy tongue, you can get your copy by writing
perkins@netvision.net.il or calling 02 6712284.
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- Meanwhile, my book Who Murdered Yitzhak Rabin is back
on Amazon.com again thanks to my new American publisher Brookline Books.
You can call them at 1 800 666-BOOK. The Hebrew and Russian versions are
available from Gefen Books. Write isragefen@netmedia.net.il The French
edition can be had by writing lurcat@netvision.net.il Please visit
www.webseers.com/rabin
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