A law student shot the prime minister — and Oslo never recovered | WHO KILLED THE PEACE? Part 6

History Onion · Part 6 · 3:00

By the autumn of 1995, some Israeli protesters were carrying pictures of their own prime minister in an SS uniform, calling Yitzhak Rabin a traitor and chanting for his death. On 4 November he spoke at a peace rally in Tel Aviv, and as he left the stage a 25-year-old law student named Yigal Amir shot him at close range. This is the finale, and it refuses the tidy version. The extremists did enormous damage — Amir's bullet removed the one Israeli leader who could sell concessions, and four suicide bombings in nine days in early 1996 erased a 16-point lead. But Oslo also died inside the mainstream. Israel sealed the territories after every attack, so work and goods stopped moving and the peace started to mean less freedom to Palestinians, not more. And Peres's Lebanon offensive — launched under Hezbollah rocket fire — shelled a UN compound at Qana where civilians were sheltering, killing about a hundred; Hezbollah had fired from roughly 220 metres away moments before. Israel's Arab citizens, whose turnout stayed high, left the ballot for prime minister blank in an election decided by 29,457 votes. And under furious pressure, Arafat's Authority did finally crack down — arresting hundreds of Hamas men — which Israelis judged too little too late, and many Palestinians resented as policing for Israel. No verdict. The question goes to you. Numbers & sources: Shin Bet chief Carmi Gillon says he warned Netanyahu that Rabin's life was in danger and asked him to moderate the rhetoric, and that Netanyahu declined; Netanyahu also publicly told supporters Rabin was not a traitor and has always denied inciting violence. Netanyahu attended anti-Oslo rallies, including a march at which demonstrators carried a coffin representing what they called the death of Zionism. Yigal Amir invoked "din rodef" as his own stated justification; mainstream rabbinic authorities rejected the application and it is disputed whether any rabbi sanctioned him. Yahya Ayyash killed 5 Jan 1996. Feb–Mar 1996: four suicide bombings in nine days — Jerusalem bus and Ashkelon (25 Feb), Jerusalem bus (3 Mar), Dizengoff Centre (4 Mar) — nine-day toll 61 (US State Dept 1996 terrorism report). Peres led by roughly 16 points before the wave. Operation Grapes of Wrath and the shelling of the UN compound at Qana, 18 Apr 1996, roughly 100–106 civilians killed; the UN investigation confirmed Hezbollah had fired from about 220 metres of the compound shortly before Israel's shells struck, while finding Israel's explanation of the strike unlikely — both findings are in the same report. PA crackdown after the suicide bombings: hundreds of Hamas members arrested, institutions closed (Human Rights Watch; contemporaneous reporting). Arab-Israeli turnout remained high (~77%), with blank prime-ministerial ballots as protest. Netanyahu 1,501,023 to Peres 1,471,566 — a margin of 29,457. Oslo deferred settlements to permanent-status talks and imposed no construction freeze; West Bank settler population ~100,500 (end 1993) to ~191,600 (end 2000), excluding East Jerusalem — B'Tselem.