Yitzhak Rabin’s son warns Trump: Same incitement spurred his father’s murder

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The son of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Donald Trump’s “ugly” campaign rhetoric is threatening American democracy and creating an atmosphere similar to the one in Israel leading up to his father’s assassination.

In a USA Today op-ed on Aug.14, Yuval Rabin wrote that Trump’s recent appeal to “Second Amendment people” is the same kind of incitement that led to the murder of his father in 1995.

“More than one commentator in Israel and the U.S. has pointed to the parallels between Israel in the 1990s and the U.S. today,” Rabin wrote, citing articles in Haaretz and the New York Times.

He added: “Intentional or not, the Republican presidential nominee is removing confidence in the democratic form of governance. If an election is seen as illegitimate, if those who supported a candidate are viewed as somehow lesser ‘Americans,’ then it becomes acceptable — and even appropriate — to work outside the political system.”

Trump’s comments last week — suggesting that gun-rights supporters could take action against Hillary Clinton if she “wants to abolish” the Second Amendment, or the right to bear arms — also prompted Connecticut Gov. Daniel Malloy to make the Rabin assassination comparison.

“I instantly thought about Rabin and Israel,” Malloy, a Democrat, said on MSNBC. “There were rallies going on in Israel where ‘Death to Rabin’ was shouted and politicians didn’t respond, so I’m going to respond.”

A right-wing extremist, Yigal Amir, shot and killed Rabin amid tensions over his push to make peace with the Palestinians.

JTA

Content distributed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news service.