The Rabin Assassination
I was dismayed to read Rachel Ginsberg’s article “Treachery at the Top?” in the June 2000 issue, concerning the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin. It is filled with innuendoes, “common beliefs,” unsubstantiated hospital reports, suppositions, etc. Printing this is in opposition to every Jewish moral code I have learned. You have maligned the Israeli government, its officials, its government agencies, and the Shin Bet.

Shulamith Weisman

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You write that we maligned the Shin Bet. In fact, the Shin Bet maligned itself by planting Avishai Raviv as an agent provocateur. In his task of making the anti-Oslo camp appear violence-prone, Raviv created Eyal, the purported radical right organization that was a front used to discredit Oslo opponents. In this role Raviv created placards that depicted Rabin as a Nazi, then planted himself in an anti-Rabin demonstration to make it seem that it was Rabin’s opponents who were drawing the Nazi comparison.

Raviv was the one who egged on Yigal Amir, urging him to commit a violent act. Even if Yigal Amir is the true killer, the Shin Bet is guilty for allowing a known anti-Rabin demonstrator access to the sterile area around the stage from which Rabin was speaking. Amir was known to the Shin Bet; in a video made shortly before the assassination, Amir is dragged screaming from a Rabin speech. How did they allow him to loiter around Rabin’s car on the night of the murder?

As for the hospital reports, they are very much substantiated. The wounds reported in one place do not match those reported elsewhere.

You write that we maligned the Israeli government. In fact, we did not name any government officials. The first draft of the article did name the official who, according to interviewee Barry Chamish, ordered the killing. However, because this was speculation on Chamish’s part, the name was edited out.

It is also fair to note that the Labor Party’s history of assassination is not pretty. In 1924, it ordered and carried out (in its Hagganah phase) the assassination of Jacob deHaan, an opponent of Zionism. It then spread the malicious lie that deHaan was killed in a personal spat. The murderer, a Hagganah operative, finally owned up (proudly) decades later.

In 1947, David Ben-Gurion ordered his troops to fire upon the Altalena, a boat laden with Irgun operatives and weapons. After the ship’s men had jumped into the water, the soldiers kept firing at their fellow Jews! The commander of the operation was Yitzchak Rabin.

There have been two recent attempts on the life of Chamish. Who is behind this effort to silence him? In life, things don’t fit perfectly, and we are justified in looking upon conspiracy theories with a wary eye. But in the Rabin case, things do not add up. Along with Chamish’s Who Murdered Yitzhak Rabin?, other books that challenge the official version are in print. Indeed, Rabin’s own family members have begun to question the official version of events.

Foot Fault
Your information regarding athlete’s foot is way off base (“Men’s Health Page,” June). Here are the facts: 1. Lamisil (over the counter) is an application that is applied once daily for one to two weeks. This is as simple as it gets.

2. Sneakers are not contraindicated while suffering with athlete’s foot. In fact the best advice is to alternate shoes daily in order for the shoe to dry properly; overnight is not good enough. Also, an antifungal spray of the shoe is a good idea after removing the shoe.

3. Cotton socks are not the best, because they trap moisture and increase the amount of moisture near the foot. The best socks are manmade materials that keep moisture away from the foot. Any long- distance runner would concur.

Dr. Samuel Galitzer
Podiatric Physician and
Surgeon of the Foot
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