Yigal Amir

Yigal Amir (born 23rd May 1970) is an Israeli right-wing extremist responsible for the assassination of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv. He was motivated by his opposition to the terms of Rabin's peace treaty with Yasser Arafat.

Assassination
On 4th November 1995, Amir waited in a car park near where Rabin was talking to demonstrators protesting his treaty. As Rabin left, Amir stepped out and fired three shots at Rabin. Two of the bullets hit Rabin, and another wounded his bodyguard Yoram Rubin. Amir was immediately subdued by Rabin's bodyguards, whereas Rabin was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died on the operating table after 40 minutes.

Trial
Amir and his two accomplices, Dror Adani and his brother Hagai, were put on trial for the assassination. Due to Amir's insistence that he was following the will of God, he was given a psychiatric evaluation, which determined that he was simply a fanatic, and not a maniac. Amir pleaded that the killing was in accordance with Jewish law, but was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, plus six years for wounding Rubin. He was also later sentenced to an additional eight years for conspiracy.

Despite life sentences in Israel generally being reduced to 20-30 years, president Moshe Katsav refused to reduce the sentence, saying that there is "no forgiveness, no absolution and no pardon" for Yigal Amir. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former prime minister Ehud Olmert have also both stated that Yigal Amir will never be released, and the Israeli government passed a law banning the release of those who kill prime ministers in December 2001.