A vicious verbal battle erupted at the end of a conference honoring slain Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on Tuesday, when a group of extreme right-wing activists showed up and clashed with Rabin's granddaughter, Noa Rothman. The ceremony, held at the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv, marked the 20th anniversary of Rabin's second term of office. The right-wing extremists, led by Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir, arrived at the center with posters denouncing what they called the "Oslo government" and confronted Rothman. Rothman met Ben-Gvir in the parking lot after the event and said to him "I was wondering if you brought the Cadillac symbol with you." (A month before the Rabin assassination, Ben-Gvir was photographed holding the Cadillac emblem that Kach youth had torn off of Rabin's official limousine, and boasted to reporters, "If we can get to Rabins car, we can get to him.") Ben-Gvir replied to Rothman, "I was part of the political scene back then, you have to admit we were part of the scenery." Rothman retorted "I don't know if that was scenery, what happened then is called a crime." Ben-Gvir shot back "No, a crime is what your grandfather did. A thousand people have already been murdered, and for what? Have you ever done any soul-searching-" Rothman stressed that the real crime was her grandfather's murder. "Aren't you ashamed of what you did to Rabin and his government-" she asked. "You should ask for forgiveness. I suggest you go to the museum and see what my grandfather did." At that point, a demonstrator stood between Rothman and the others and she entered her vehicle emotionally shaken and in tears. The verbal tirades continued, and Rothman exited her vehicle and lost her cool. "You demand that I do some soul-searching because they murdered my grandfather? Ask for forgiveness. He is already dead, assassinated," Rothman shouted at Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir responded, "It is you who should ask for forgiveness," and when asked by Rothman whom he meant by "you" Ben-Gvir replied "Those responsible for giving arms to terrorists." Marzel, another well-known right-wing extremist, joined the fray, at one point saying to Rothman "You have benefited greatly from Rabin's murder. You have become a rich girl." Many of the ministers who served in Rabin's second government attended Tuesday's service. President Shimon Peres, who served as his foreign minister, said "Rabin's government was a government of social justice and political wisdom." Regarding Rabin's murder, Peres said "I have never expressed my feelings after those horrific three gun shots. Even today I will only say that the work I did together with Yitzhak and the impossibly difficult loss of him have left me a broken man who misses him very much, but one who still has faith today." Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by Yigal Amir, who is currently serving a life sentence in prison. Hagai Amir, Yigal's brother, was released from Ayalon Prison in May after serving 16 years, 15 of which were for conspiring to commit Rabin's murder and the unlawful possession of weapons. He served an additional year after threatening to kill then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2006.
