Sergeant Charged With Giving Guns To Rabin Killer, Brother Police Say He Thought Pair Were Targeting Palestinians

An army sergeant was indicted Monday in the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, a day after the confessed gunman fed conspiracy rumors by implying he got help from a Rabin bodyguard.

First Sgt. Eric Schwartz was charged with smuggling weapons from his military base and giving them to gunman Yigal Amir and Amir’s brother, Hagai. The charges submitted to a military court in Haifa said Schwartz believed the two planned to attack Palestinians.

The three key suspects in the Rabin assassination - the Amir brothers and a friend, Dror Adani - were to be charged later this week. Four other suspects have been released into house arrest, and it was not clear whether they will be charged.

On Sunday, Yigal Amir said he carries secrets that “will destroy everything.”

“Everything until now was a mask,” the 25-year-old student said. The truth about the slaying, he said, would “turn the country upside down.”

Amir said authorities killed a bodyguard who helped him by creating confusion during the Nov. 4 shooting at a Tel Aviv peace rally.

“Why don’t you publicize that they killed one of Rabin’s bodyguards? The one who shouted ‘The bullets are dummies,”’ Amir yelled to reporters as he was brought into a Tel Aviv courtroom to have his detention extended.

Amir has until now insisted that he acted alone, and previous reports indicated he shouted that the bullets were fake. No evidence has surfaced to support his claim that a Rabin bodyguard was killed.

“I did not think they would start killing people,” he muttered in court.

“You are killing people,” retorted Judge Dan Arbel.

“If I tell the truth, it would turn the country upside down,” Amir said, waving his hand dismissively and sitting down.

A government spokesman called Amir’s comments “nonsense.”

On Sunday, police investigator Arieh Silverman gave the court a document he said contained new material “that could change the nature of the charges” and asked to extend Amir’s detention eight days beyond the maximum 30 days without charge. The contents of the document were not disclosed.

The judge agreed to extend Amir’s detention by four days. Amir is accused of murder, attempted murder, illegal weapons manufacture and possession, sabotaging an investigation and conspiracy. He has said he shot Rabin to stop the Israel-PLO peace process.