Customer Reviews

Murder in the Name of God: The Plot to Kill Yitzhak Rabin

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I became interested in the subject of the Rabin assassination after reading a few conspiracy theories on the web. This book, however, provides ample evidence that Yitzhak Rabin's murder wasn't the act of shadowy secret services, but, rather, a lone fanatic acting on what he believed to be the implicit commands of self-righteous religious authorities who should have known better. In a way I was disappointed by the lack of JFK-style mystery in the book, but in the end I found it a truly enlightening work which brings to light the inevitable consequence of mixing politics with religion: violence.

This is an important book which is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the background to the current situation in the Middle East. Ostensibly an account of the events leading up to the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin, the book is much more than this. It contains a wealth of background information and scrupulously marshalled detail which shows how the assassination wasnot an act of inhuman recklessness on the partof an isolated fanatic, but part of of a deliberate movement orchestrated by the leaders of the ultra-orthodox right to carryout a death threat 'sanctioned by Jewish law' against someone who was giving away the land of the Jews, in going along with the Oslo accord. It is a devastating account of mistaken bigotry and evil employing non-democratic ends to bring about its aims. the book paints a pictrure of a country on the verge of civil war and, although at times it reas likea thriller, this excellent book is an impartial and well-documented account of the most recent chapter in Israel's history.

This terrific book was an easy read, and managed to weave together many seemingly apparent notions in a manner no one has yet done about the relationship between the assasination of Rabin and the political right in Israel. Yet it also tells the greater story of how the small religious right minority in Israel has slowly begun to leave its mark on Israeli society at large, while using the very government and democratic tools they reject. While this book is a must read for anyone living in Israel or interested in the political situation there, it has great value for Americans (a chapter is devoted to right wing supporters of Israel in the United States) and freedom loving people everywhere. Serious dangers exist when people attempt to gain power democratically while preaching that their ways are the ways of God (with the implication that all others are the ways of non-believers). The chaos that can take place as these groups gain power is apparent from such disparate places such as the United States, Israel, Algeria and Iran, to name a few. This book seriously details the steady erosion to Israel's once vibrant, but now teetering, democracy that has resulted from the rise to power of these would be despots. The terrible situation that exists in Algeria and Iran, partly due to the rise of such groups, is clear. One can also see the clear link between these groups in Israel and those who would bomb abortion clinics, burn black churches, deface synagoges, bomb federal buildings, and commit other similar acts of domestic terrorism and intimidation in the United States.

This is a gereat book. As a lvoer of Israel I was always appalled by the Yigal Amir's of this world. This book gives great context to the more fanatical nationalist elements in both Israel and regrettable here in the United States. I never thought I owuld ever see the day when bogus Rabbis would issue a "fatwa" on a Prime Mnister's life. yet Jacob Hecht essentially did that. Unfortuantely the debate in Israel (has anyone seen the Knesset in action?) is loud, vituperative, vulgar and shrill. I am also aware of conspiracy theorists ont he web, people who are trying to exonerate the mystagogical settlers from teh murder. This is baloney and worthy of an Oliver Stone. Unfortunately politcal/physical violence against fellow Jews is not unheard of: the Arlosoroff Affair, the Altalena affair; the murder of Emil Grunzweig in an anti-Lebanon war demonstration in 1982 and of course the Rabin murder. The fact that some insane people here and in Israel are calling for a pardon for Amir is very disturbing. If you hate fanaticism as I do, this book becomes despite its superb writing and research - a painful read.

I was fascinated by this book. Although I had known the events, I hadn't appreciated how they had emerged from the political discourse of the ultra-orthodox. The book provides plenty of compelling detail. It is well written and it frighteningly suggests that Israel is now threatened by civil strife.

This is a well researched and well documented book on the atmosphere of religious incitement that culminated in the assassination of Rabin for the purpose of putting an end to his efforts to bring about a peace accord. It demonstrates how a small minority of fanatics can thwart the will of a majority through the use of terror tactics. Most chilling is the portrayal of the apathy of most Israelis to the growing menace of the religious fanatics in their midst until it was too late. It is a lesson for all faiths and all countries that aspire to democratic rule of the necessity to recognize and act against the anti-democratic forces that use religious reasoning to thwart the will of the majority. A must read. Sam D. Starobin, Brookline, MA, USA

Riveting book that tells a story that goes far beyond the straight forward facts of the events of the Rabin assassination. It is the trenchant story of how extreme religiousity and extreme nationalism blend into a murderous brew that puts the right wing of Israel above the law and the national pursuit of and interest in a negotiated peace with the Arabs. This book is a must read for - and a clear warning to - anyone with a nostalgic sympathy for the religious community of Israel. The extreme religious right of Isael is centered on an absolute belief in the corectness of their path - and it grants no legitimacy to any other political views. In such a community murder becomes a righteous act rather than the most heinous of criminal offenses. This is a well written and outstanding contribution to understanding the the complex political and religious society of Israel.

I thought I new a lot about what led to the murder of our prime Minister . I was wrong. "Murder In The Name Of God" is a newly embroidered tapestry of the Fundamentalist threat to Israeli Democracy, even to its very existence. It is a testimony hitherto untold, about ancient and marginal atavistic elements in Jewish Tradition and the failure of Modern Zionism to recognize their constant spread among relatively wide Israeli right wing circles that eventually led to the murder. Reading this book makes one really understand the most important crisis of contemporary Israel.

This book is really an exercise steeped in purposeful deception, lies and obfuscations. It is simply a propoganda exercise meant to support the Shamgar Commission Report and to pander to, and allay the fears of, the many liberal, establishment secular Jews who depend on the status quo and who haven't the courage to face up to the truth of Rabin's assassination.

Dr. David Morrison, the author of "Lies - Israel's Secret Service and the Rabin Murder," presents a damning critique of this book and the authors and their deceptions are made clear point by point. If you want to keep your head buried in the sand then read "Murder in the Name of God." If you want a serious critique of all of the available evidence then read Barry Chamish or Dr. Morrison's "LIES."

Wake up Israel!

See the review in The Finanacial times Weekend edition on page v 20-21 Feb 99.