Ya’alon Picture: A Scary Reminder
Gilbert N. Kahn is a professor of Political Science at Kean University.
On November 4, 1995, Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was assassinated by a fanatical right wing Israeli. During the weeks prior to his murder incitement pictures appeared and were published, for example in the Jerusalem Post. The poster taken by Reuters in September 1995 of a political demonstration against Rabin. The poster calls Rabin and Arafat “blood brothers” and accuses them both of being guilty of “crimes against the Jewish people.”
Last Friday this picture appeared on YNET of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. The story indicated that it was a call for Ya’alon’s resignation in light of his support of the IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and “…many senior officials and officers in the defense establishment who came out against a Kfir Brigade soldier for shooting dead a terrorist who was already lying wounded on the ground.” [Inciting photo calling to end Ya'alon's political career.]
Sunday it was reported that the Israeli Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked called this photo an incitement but did not believe it had any connections with attacks against Ya’alon by some of the right wing parties, but was an online incitement.
The Israeli media, meanwhile, reported last week that the initial reaction of two-thirds of the Israel public was in support of the actions of the soldier who was classified as a hero.
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