MR Yitzhak Rabin's assassin, Yigal Amir, expressed his satisfaction yesterday that the killing had "woken up" the Israeli public, and prompted the ousting of the Labour government and its replacement by Mr Benjamin Netanyahu's right wing/religious coalition.
Appealing in the Israeli Supreme Court for his murder conviction to be reduced to manslaughter and his life term to be shortened, Amir (26), branded the late Mr Rabin as a traitor, and defended the killing by saying he had to do something to wake up the nation."
His mission, he went on, had been successful. Israeli voters had "opened up their eyes" to the dangers of the policies that Mr Rabin and his successor, Mr Shimon Peres, had followed in seeking reconciliation with the Palestinians, and thus Mr Netanyahu had prevailed in the May 29th elections.
In their petition, Amir's lawyers insisted that their client could not be held accountable for his actions and were immediately contradicted by the assassin himself, who told the court that he knew exactly what he had been doing and was "happy" that Mr Rabin was dead.
They also reiterated claims that Amir had not fired the fatal bullets an assertion, again, that the killer himself has vehemently countered. The court's decision which is extremely unlikely to go Amir's way is expected in a few days.
Meanwhile yesterday Mr Netanyahu was making final preparations for his departure today to the United States, and talks tomorrow with President Clinton. The new Israeli Prime Minister is expected to announce a package of measures to silence complaints about his peace plans with the Palestinians including an easing of closure orders on the West Bank and Gaza, a commitment in principle to withdraw troops from Hebron, a readiness for dialogue at all levels, and support for international aid for Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.
As far as peace with Syria is concerned, by contrast, Mr Netanyahu is set to argue that no negotiations can be contemplated sad long as Damaseus continues to play host to groups, such as Hamas, that are violently opposed to reconciliation, and encourages Hizbullah to target Israeli troops encamped in the buffer zone in south Lebanon.
The Prime Minister has ordered Israeli intelligence experts to prepare a file on Syria's alleged sponsorship of terrorism, extending to the recent bombing of US troops in Saudi Arabia.
The media wise Israeli Prime Minister has lined up a series of high profile TV interviews for a veritable charm offensive to out line his policies, and is also getting a red carpet welcome from the Clinton Administration hurriedly adjusting itself to the election success of a leader that it had been hoping would lose out to Mr Peres.
Mr Netanyahu is meeting all the senior Administration figures, and will address a joint meeting of both houses of Congress.
Mr Netanyahu will be leaving behind a new political storm over some $1.5 billion in newly announced budgetary cuts. His detractors claim that these will hit the most vulnerable sectors of the population, but Mr Netanyahu insists that they are crucial to the rehabilitation of an economy he says he has found to be in need of major surgery.
Reuter adds. The former defence minister, Mr Ariel Sharon will join the Israeli cabinet as a powerful minister today, a spokesman said.
The cabinet has approved the creation of the Infrastructure Ministry, and the prime minister will present the nomination of Mr Sharon to parliament for approval on Monday at 1600, after which he will be sworn in," Mr Netanyahu's spokesman said last night.
Mr Netanyahu snubbed Mr Sharon (68) for a senior cabinet post when he formed his government last month. But the Foreign Minister, Mr David Levy, forced the issue last Wednesday by threatening publicly to quit the cabinet unless Mr Netanyahu made a place for Mr Sharon before his US trip.