The Knesset passed a law today preventing a presidential pardon of the murderer of an Israeli Prime Minister. The final version was a compromise in that it does not mention - or reduce - the president\'s powers directly; it instead restricts only the Parole Board by forbidding it to recommend a pardon or a shortening of the assassin\'s sentence. The vote was 62 in favor and 6 against - MKs David Levy (Gesher), Michael Kleiner (Herut), Likud MKs Moshe Arens, Ze\'evi Boim, and Ayoub Kara, and Amnon Cohen of Shas. Eight MKs abstained, including several Shinui party members who object in principle to a law that is tailored specifically to one person - namely, Rabin-assassin Yigal Amir.
The murdered Prime Minister\'s daughter, Deputy Defense Minister Dalia Rabin-Pilosoff, said that she was \"relieved\" by the Knesset decision. \"The murder of a Prime Minister is a blow at the democratic foundations of the country,\" she said, \" and therefore this law is not personal but rather a statement by a democracy that wants to protect itself… I hope that this is another step towards preventing the next political murder.\" MK Kleiner, on the other hand, said, \"This law is directed entirely against the right-wing, as if our constant goal is to pardon Yigal Amir. It differentiates unfairly between \'blood and blood.\'\" Shinui MK Yossi Paritsky also said, \"It is inconceivable that in a democratic country in which equality is a fundamental principle, a law is passed that determines that the blood of a Prime Minister is redder than that of anyone else.\"
The murdered Prime Minister\'s daughter, Deputy Defense Minister Dalia Rabin-Pilosoff, said that she was \"relieved\" by the Knesset decision. \"The murder of a Prime Minister is a blow at the democratic foundations of the country,\" she said, \" and therefore this law is not personal but rather a statement by a democracy that wants to protect itself… I hope that this is another step towards preventing the next political murder.\" MK Kleiner, on the other hand, said, \"This law is directed entirely against the right-wing, as if our constant goal is to pardon Yigal Amir. It differentiates unfairly between \'blood and blood.\'\" Shinui MK Yossi Paritsky also said, \"It is inconceivable that in a democratic country in which equality is a fundamental principle, a law is passed that determines that the blood of a Prime Minister is redder than that of anyone else.\"