Editor says, what if Rabin had survived? muses Jackie Rose. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the May 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.

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Editor says, in reality Rabin died of his wounds and the battle rages to this day. The assassin is still serving life in prison, but his brother Hagai was recently freed and still defends the killer's actions.

Stan Brin commented on 2012-05-04 23:56:49 ~ First, I've interviewed Peres, but never met Rabin. I don't pretend to be an expert in this particular subject, but it is clear that had Rabin survived, he would have been in really big, big, trouble. In fact, it was the scandal surrounding the Rabin "assassination" as much as the Arafat terror war that destroyed the political left in Israel and left the Labor Party a mere shadow. It appears that under direct political orders, Israel Police officials convinced the most troublesome nationalist extremists in the country to form a "secret" underground called Ayal. On one hand, the police thought that they could watch the radicals better by putting all their nuts in one basket. On the other hand, ministry officials decided to use these fools as a sort of false-flag, dirty trick squad. Ayal members went around the country acting like idiots, defacing posters, calling Rabin a "traitor" at Likud rallies, hoping to make the right look bad. It didn't work. Then, Amir got his own bright idea, and his handlers failed to find out what he was up to. As a result, Rabin became the only person in history with a hand in his own assassination.

Stan Brin commented on 2012-05-05 00:02:02 ~ To John Braungart -- Ayal members liked to interrupt Bibi (not Benny) Netanyahu's speeches, yelling "Rabin is a traitor!" in order to force him to shout that "Rabin is not a traitor!" The news would show Netanyahu saying that to Rabin's benefit. Regarding Arafat, there is no question that he never had the slightest intention of making peace with Israel, and never said so in Arabic. He called his policy "the phased plan." It's still official Palestinian policy -- in Arabic.

Stan Brin commented on 2012-05-05 00:13:32 ~ I think it's remarkable how much people think they know about the Middle East, and how little they actually know. That appears to be the fault of what I am now convinced is a criminal press corps.

Todayinah Ed. commented on 2012-05-05 03:19:01 ~ I think regardless of the underlying power struggle, the death of Rabin was a transformative mood-changing event and this article focuses on the perspective of hope which I also think is key to the who tragedy.

Stan Brin commented on 2012-05-05 03:20:15 ~ Cassandra -- True, but it took a while for the story to emerge, and a lot of people in the Jewish community just didn't want to hear it, certainly not Hillel, which on many campuses does not effectively represent Jewish students at all. (I live near UCI, and don't get me started!)

Eric Oppen commented on 2012-05-05 05:24:25 ~ I wonder what the US reaction would be?

Eric Lipps commented on 2012-05-05 18:55:38 ~ So if I interpret Stan Brin correctly, Ayal was just part of a conspiracy o "mske the right look bad" as part of a "false flag" operation? So Ayal wasn't really right-wing, then, no matter what it said or did, because--well, because right-wingers don't do bad things? Nonsense. Even if Israeli authorities had a hand in encouraging these nutjobs to band together, that doesn't mean they werren't right-wingers or that the right wasn't kimplicated in Rabin's "assassination." (And why the quote marks, anyway? It was a political killing, wan't it? Or do you believe Rabin is still alive seomewhere, perhaps sharing a house with JFK, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis?)

Mike commented on 2012-05-06 02:32:12 ~ It's always the good leaders who get targeted for assassination.