Israeli Police Arrest Two More In Rabin Assassination Probe

Israeli police Wednesday expanded their investigation into a possible extremist conspiracy to kill Yitzhak Rabin, arresting two more suspects including the leader of a militant Jewish group whom they called a possible “catalyst” behind the assassination.

Authorities also stepped up security around public buildings and enlarged the details guarding top Cabinet members amid continued death threats against government leaders.

The heightened concerns for security came after a preliminary report sharply criticized the failure of police and bodyguards to prevent Rabin’s assassination Saturday at an outdoor peace rally in Tel Aviv.

Israel has been sharply divided over the peace policies of Rabin and his Labor Party government. Rabin had received numerous death threats in recent months and the tone of anti-government protests by the right-wing had turned increasingly hostile and menacing.

The report, produced at the government’s request by three former security service chiefs, uncovered considerable lapses in standard procedures that should have been followed by security agents guarding the prime minister.

The man who confessed to the murder, Yigal Amir, a 25-year-old law student, was able to come within less than five feet of Rabin and fire three shots from a pistol.

A senior Israeli security official who oversees the protection unit resigned and another was suspended Wednesday as a result of the investigation.

Amir told police he also had also planned to kill Shimon Peres, the foreign minister and now acting prime minister, who also attended the Tel Aviv rally.

Appearing in a Tel Aviv court Wednesday night, Avishai Raviv, head of the underground Eyal organization, faced evidence that he conspired to murder Rabin and failed to prevent a crime. Police said they considered the 28-year-old Raviv to be “a catalyst in the murder of Rabin.”

Another suspect, linked to Eyal also was in custody Wednesday, but is not identified.

The arrests bring to four the number of suspects in the case. Amir’s brother, Hagai Amir, 27, is also in jail, accused of preparing the hollow-nose bullets that killed Rabin.

Raviv, 28, admitted he had heard Amir, a fellow student, talk about killing Rabin, but said he had not taken it seriously.