Ehud Olmert had harsh words for Israeli soccer fans who mocked the memory of Yitzhak Rabin.
Scores of Betar Jerusalem fans who traveled to Haifa for a game Sunday booed when asked to observe a moment of silence marking the 12th anniversary of Rabin’s assassination. Some were heard singing songs in praise of Yigal Amir, the Jewish ultranationalist who gunned the Israeli prime minister down at a Tel Aviv peace rally.
Reports of the heckling reached Olmert, who prefaced a speech at a business conference Monday with condemnation for the rowdy Betar fans.
“I would like to state in the clearest, angriest terms that this behavior – not of a small group, as some would like to minimize it, but of a large, loud, influential and rowdy group- was wicked and unconscionable,” Olmert said.
The Israeli prime minister is a former Jerusalem mayor who has supported Betar for decades.
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.
