I want to know who are all those people clapping at the suggestion that Yigal Amir should be released... the Channel 14 journalist making the suggestion bothers me less - he is paid to be provocative and bring in the viewers..

The electoral board invalidated Hiba Yazbek from running for Knesset on the Arab Joint List (under the Balad banner I think).

the electoral board also invalidated the Mishpat Tzedek party of Larissa Trimbobler from running.

Obviously both of these will end up in the Supreme Court for either confirmation or revocation.

I get why Yazbek was invalidated. Statements she made about attacking soldiers were referenced and she was accused of being racist, anti-Israel, inciting to murder soldiers, and the like. You might disagree with the decision to invalidate her from running, but at least the reason is reasonable and understandable.

I have yet to see a reason given for invalidating Trimbobler's party. Even if you think her goal is pointless, stupid and doomed to failure, why invalidate it? Let her run and fail on her merits. She has not said racist things (that I know of). She has not called for killing Arabs or prime ministers or soldiers or made any other somewhat treasonous statements or committed any such actions. She simply called for judicial reform to help her husband, heinous as his crime was (though she says he did not get a fair trial). This is the thought police. I say let her fail on her merits, because nobody is interested. As far as I am aware, Trimbobler did nothing to deserve invalidation. Correct me if I am wrong.

I can understand invalidating Yigal Amir from running for Knesset, should he try to, but what is the justification for invalidating Trimbobler and her party?

Larissa Trimbobler, the wife of Yigal Amir, submitted her official papers today for her new party to run in the upcoming national elections. Their platform is simply that Yigal Amir should be given a new trial.

The new party is called Mishpat Tzedek. Larissa says secret things connected to the justice system and to the entire institution have become known.

Mishpat Tzedek is a one-issue party, but the one issue is not as narrow as their focus makes them seem. They are focused on Yigal Amir but they will support a retrial for anyone who deserves one - for anybody innocent sitting in jail.

Whatever that means.

All jails are full of innocent people. Just ask the people in jail and most of them will tell you they are innocent.

I am not quite sure how being involved in politics will get someone in jail a new trial after already having one, but I guess if she can convince about 140,000 or so people by March 2 that this is the most important issue of the day I guess we'll find out...

We've had so many elections recently it is hard to keep track of which is which and which parties ran in which elections, but based on a post I remembered writing back in August, I could identify that Yigal Amir's wife, Larissa Trimbobler, was somehow involved in the formation of a political party that was set to try to run in the previous elections. They obviously did not succeed in passing the threshold, but I don't know how many votes they actually were able to bring in.

Trimbobnler is even more involved this time, by actually submitting registration forms for a new party. The name of the new party would be "Mishpat Tzedek".

The head of the party registrar has said he will allow Trimbobler to form her party, as long as she declares that the party does not support the assassination on Yitzchak Rabin. Trimbobler will have to submit a statement to him within 48 hours to that effect.

Globus, the head of the registrar, said he cannot disqualify a party just because it says it wants to change legislation to allow the release from prison of someone who murdered a prime minister.
source: Srugim

The person who killed Rabin was a person with the initials YR - not Yitzchak Rabin. The person behind it was seemingly a leading politician who wanted to eliminate Yitzchak Rabin because he wanted to do away with the Oslo Accords.. From here I call out to remove the false titles "Classified" from all the documents that do not support the theory that the Right killed Rabin. The time has come, 24 years the Right is vilified, my university - Bar Ilan - is vilified. We are all vilified because of something Yigal Amir might not have even done. He is sitting in jail in solitary confinement. Why is he held in solitary? So that he cannot tell anyone the truth. 

  -- Dr Mordechai Kedar, at a pro-Netanyahu rally. Netanyahu rejected Kedar's assertions.

People dream big. People get ideas in their heads, sometimes good ideas, sometime bombastic ideas, sometimes ridiculous ideas, and sometimes they even think the only, or maybe the best, way to move their idea forward, to advance the idea, is to run for Knesset and do it from a position of national leadership. A person might even think that there are tens or hundreds of thousands of people who think that idea is great, even if just because a few people around him (or her) said it is an amazing idea.

Let's remember - to get into the Knesset, one needs to garner the votes of about 130,000 to 150,000 people, with some variance, depending on voter turnout. That is a lot of people.

So many one-issue parties try to get into the Knesset, and they [almost] always fail. (I cannot think of any that has gotten in, but it might have happened.) Yet in every election we see more people opening parties to run in the elections on a one-issue platform. Such parties are counting on people to not just support that one-issue and think it is important enough to support and vote for but that it is more important than all other issues on the table and vote for it despite all the other issues that are definitely important and that most people have opinions about.

It is a bit of a conundrum how people see what happens in each election but then go and open more one-issue parties each and every time.

Some people are now opening such a party, with its one issue being the release form prison of Yigal Amir. The party says it wants to bring about his release by exposing the truth about the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin.

Amir's family says they are not connected to this party yet his brother Chaggai and hsi wife Larisa Trimbobler have been seen involved in a recent conference for the establishment of the party.

MK Amir Peretz, now chairman of the Labor Party, has appealed to the electoral board to reject their application and prevent them from running in the upcoming elections.
(source: Kipa)

We should not be a police state. I have no problem banning Yigal Amir from running in elections. These other people, whomever they are, did nothing wrong. If they think they can get 140,000 or so people to support this idea, let them try. Let the people tell them they are being ridiculous or let the people support them. They are a one issue party that thinks there are at least 140000 people who think getting Yigal Amir out of jail is more important than any of the other issues Israel is facing. Let them  run and let them fail on their own.

Hagai Amir was released from prison last week. Amir, brother of Yigal Amir, served 16.5 years in solitary confinement in prison for his role as an accomplice in the Rabin assassination.

Amir's release was met, mostly by the people on the "left" but also by some from the "right", with protests and anger.

I have never called for Yigal Amir or Hagai Amir's release from prison, and I am in no way a supporter of theirs. However, I am not sure what all these upset people expect. Hagai Amir was sentenced, in a court of law, to 16 years in prison. Hagai Amir served out his sentence.

I would not support promoting him for any public position, but besides for that what do these people want? What are they upset about? He served his sentence. Do they think he should volunteer to stay in prison for longer? Do they think the prison services should have kept him in longer despite the court sentence limiting his term to 16 years? This is a democracy and a country ruled by a legal system. He did the crime, he paid his time.

Leave him alone, don't turn him into a celebrity, let him go quietly to his home and live out whatever his miserable life will be.

As an aside, even if you believe that the Amir's were set up and framed as part of a conspiracy theory, which I do not discount as being possible, no matter how you look at it the Amir's must have been a part of whatever conspiracy there might have been. They were not just victims of a set-up. If they had simply been victims, they would not have played along and kept quiet all this time. So even if they were part of a conspiracy, they are as bad as the rest of them.

Back to my point, if a community would come out and promote Hagai Amir as deserving of public office or to be some sort of leader, I would understand the opposition. I, too, would oppose his being promoted to such a position. Perhaps I would say that he has the right to run for any position, but I would think it wrong for anybody to support him or vote for him (as I think regarding Aryeh Deri and other people running for political office after having served prison time for crimes of moral turpitude - you want to run, go ahead, but people should not be voting for such a person).

So, Hagai Amir should not be put in the position of being a leader. But to protest just the fact that he was released from prison? What's that all about? He served his time, let him go home now.

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Without entering the growing debate of whether Yigal Amir is being treated inappropriately for his assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, as he has been kept in solitary confinement, separate from the other inmates, for over 15 years, his appeals for various changes have all been immediately rejected, I wonder if a person has a basic right to enjoy certain religious allowances.

Yigal Amir has filed an appeal against his being kept in solitary confinement. He recently filed an appeal, that was ultimately rejected. Amir was kept in solitary, but he was given permission to learn gemara once every two weeks with another inmate. Amir is now appealing the rejection of his request and is asking for another session be held to consider the petition.

In the petition, Amir's lawyers write that "holding him in solitary confinement for so long is a breach of multiple rights set into law. Besides for that it is a breach of the basic right of every Jewish inmate to daven with a minyan and answer "amen ye'hei shmei raba", and "kadosh kadosh kadosh" after the chazzan..." (source: Kikar)

The petition continues listing why Amir should be integrated into the general inmate population, but I find that particular line interesting.

Without getting tied up specifically with Yigal Amir and whether or not he deserves this to be granted or whether he is too despicable, or whether or not he even did what he took the blame for, what do you think about the claim itself? Does a Jewish inmate automatically have the basic right to daven with a minyan? to answer amen?

Most of the time we hear about the problems of the Jewish People being blamed on issues of tzniyus, modesty, or sometimes the lack of careful keeping of the sanctity of Shabbos or other such issues. It is always interesting to hear the connections other people, different rabbonim, make when they connect other issues to be the source of problems.

Rav Yoshiyahu Pinto, one of the leading mekubalim today and one of the most respected, if not THE most respected, of Ashdod, said, during the ceremony inaugurating his new house, that "many of the troubles that have fallen on Am Yisrael in the past 15 years have been caused because of the heinous murder of Yitzchak Rabin. A Jew killed a Jew in the name of faith." (source: Kikar)

I always wonder how anybody knows what to blame it on, but mekubalim always tend to know things we regular folk don't know...

About 2 weeks ago it was announced that supporters of Yigal Amir's release were beginning a campaign to raise awareness and support for Amir's release from prison. As part of the campaign they said they would be releasing 150,000 copies of a cd that would explain why the situation..

I got hold of a copy of the cd and present it to you here. Let's hear your opinion!

I have stayed completely away from this whole topic until now, as I have had nothing constructive to write on the topic (even when I was recently told that I murdered Yitzchak Rabin), but now I just could not resist....

Yigal Amir's wife, Larissa Trimbobler, just gave birth to a baby boy. I understand Shimon Peres is being invited to the bris and will be given the honor of the sandek position because they are going to name the baby Yitzchak after the late Prime Minister who worked closely with Mr. Peres. :-)