Nationalist rally
Nationalist rallyHezki Ezra

As memorials continue for former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, who was assassinated 15 years ago, a former “proud Leftist” is calling to end accusations that right-wing incitement preceded Rabin's death. Popular entertainer and media personality Dudu Elharar told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew-language news service that “Rabin is spinning in his grave” over finger-pointing by the political Left.

Many on the Left have accused nationalists of calling for violence against Rabin and other politicians in the days of the Oslo Accords, shortly before the killing. Elharar tells a different story.

“Until 1992 I voted for Meretz, and in 1996 I voted for Labor... I was in the 'peace camp,' I was a proud leftist, I saw the right-wing protests of the time through a leftist's eyes, and I can tell you that there was no incitement. Not even a hint of incitement,” he stated.

The use of the term “incitement” to demonize the Right is itself a form of incitement, he said.

“Look at how the French are protesting now in the streets against raising the age of retirement,” Elharar continued. “Millions are in the streets, and here people protested against an accord that sold the country for a Mitsubishi, and they dare to accuse us of incitement? And we just stammer in response.”

The time has come for the Right to respond to its critics, he announced. “The time has come to scream it in their ears, 'What you are doing is incitement, you are sowing hatred,'” he said.

The focus on the Right takes the heat off of those who truly bear responsibility in the shooting, he added. “Rabin wasn't murdered because of incitement, because there was no incitement. Rabin was murdered because of faulty security,” he declared. “Any prime minister on earth would have been murdered within hours with security that bad.”

Elharar suggested that those who continue to warn against “right-wing incitement” are acting out of pure self-interest. “Those who keep inciting against the Right want to keep their jobs at the Peres Center for Peace, the New Israel Fund, and Adallah,” he accused.

Elharar left the Left and moved to the nationalist camp several years ago. He had a popular weekly show on Army Radio for some time, but the show was cancelled in 2008 in a move that led to protests. He has criticized the media for failing to give a voice to right-wing views.

However, he said, those on the political Right must not be deterred by media bias. “We have throats, we can yell. We may not have official media channels, but that's no reason to stay quiet,” he declared.