Amir also said he believed that the peace policy of the Rabin government had endangered Jewish lives — and so was permitted under Jewish law to kill the prime minister.

The appeal requested that the murder charge be reduced to manslaughter, saying Amir only intended to paralyze, not kill, Rabin.

The lawyers also said a second gunman at the Nov. 4 Tel Aviv peace rally had shot and killed Rabin. When asked why there was no evidence about a second gunman, one of the defense lawyers said, "Because no one tried to investigate this angle."

Amir asked to address the court after his lawyers had argued that he was not psychologically stable. But Amir maintained before the court that he was "balanced." A court-ordered psychiatric exam had found he had no mental disturbance.

The court will issue a ruling at a later date. Amir was convicted in March. He was also separately charged, along with his brother Haggai Amir and friend Dror Adani, with conspiracy to assassinate the prime minister. That trial is under way in Tel Aviv District Court.