Israeli leaders have appealed to the public to refrain from the kind of political incitement which preceded the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
“I hope we don’t repeat the same terrible mistake,” President Ezer Weizman told reporters after a meeting with Netanyahu. “The prime minister reached an agreement which I think is an appropriate one. If we return to the same kind of incitement against him as was directed against another person, it will be very grave.”
Weizman’s appeal came in the wake of an angry demonstration outside the prime minister’s residence Monday night, when protesters called Netanyahu a traitor for signing the Wye agreement with the Palestinians last week.
Members of the National Religious Party, which has opposed the transfer of additional West Bank land to the Palestinians, joined in Weizman’s call for restraint.
“I appeal to my colleagues in the national camp, those who are justifiably in pain over the [accords] that alongside the public protest, they make clear that certain red lines cannot be crossed,” he told Israel Radio.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
