The Knesset held a special memorial service on Wednesday in honor of slain former government minister Rehavam (Gandhi) Ze'evi, who was assassinated 12 years ago by terrorists in a Jerusalem hotel. In attendance was Ze'evi's widow, Yael, along with his children and grandchildren, as well as former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Knesset Speaker Shevah Weiss. "Gandhi had a clear strategic outlook, which was based on knowledge rather than ignorance and charlatanism; on a sober view rather than naïvet ; on facts rather than wishes," Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon told the audience. "His positions were presented as extreme in order to invalidate them and it is possible that they were before their time. The awakening for most of us in recent years is proof of this." Ze'evi, then the tourism minister, was shot by four Palestinian gunmen at the Hyatt Hotel on Mount Scopus on Oct. 17, 2001. He later died of his wounds at the Hadassah Medical Center. The Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the assassination, saying it was revenge for the assassination of the group's secretary-general, Abu Ali Mustafa, whom Israel had killed in August that year. The four gunmen were arrested and held initially in Jericho, under American and British guard, and later moved to Israel where they were tried and sentenced. Known for his strongly anti-Arab views, the highly controversial Ze'evi was known as one of the most hard-line politicians in the country, an advocate of the voluntary transfer of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip to Arab countries. His views soon became synonymous with the "transfer" slogan. Ze'evi was known for lashing out at then-Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, calling him "wicked" and a "murderer," and he stirred controversy when he referred to Palestinians working and living illegally in Israel as "lice" and a "cancer." Ze'evi was controversial not only for his comments about Arabs, however. In 1997, Ze'evi taunted then-U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk as a "Jew-boy" for allegedly selling out Israel's security to U.S. interests. The two almost came to blows.
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Ya'alon: Rehavam Ze'evi's views were before their time
At special Knesset memorial service for former government minister Rehavam (Gandhi) Ze'evi, assassinated by terrorists 12 years ago in Jerusalem, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon says, "His positions were presented as extreme in order to invalidate them."