Yuval Rabin, voting for Bib?
Netanyahu. 'Legitimate candidate'
Photo: AFP
_a.jpg "Photo: Yaron Brener")
Yitzhak Rabin memorial rally
Photo: Yaron Brener
Rabin's son mulls voting for Netanyahu
Thirteen years after father's assassination, Yuval Rabin reportedly leaning towards voting for Likud chairman, who was blamed by family for part in incitement leading up to murder. Sources say he feels there is no better alternative
Yuval Rabin, son of slain Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,
is considering voting for Likud
Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu
in the 2009 general elections, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Tuesday.
Much to the surprise of listeners in closed talks held this week, Rabin reportedly said he did not rule out giving his vote to Netanyahu, and that out of the three candidates he was most leaning towards the Likud leader.
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"I am not sure. We all know what our options are, and I have my doubts like everyone else. Not many people in the country know who to vote for," a source who attended the meeting quoted Rabin as saying. "I am weighing and considering just like everyone else. I do not rule out Bibi (Netanyahu)."
A political source said on Monday that Rabin and Netanyahu have exchanged messages and there was even talk of a one-on-one meeting. The source's claims were not confirmed by Rabin, who was not available to comment.
Tuesday marks the 13th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. Ever since the murder, tensions between Netanyahu and the Rabin family have been high as the latter hold Netanyahu partially responsible for the incitement against the late prime minister that led to the killing.
This is mainly due to the famous Zion Square demonstration, in which Netanyahu took part, where protestors carried posters of Rabin in a Nazi uniform. The Likud chairman was also photographed leading a procession in Raanana carrying a coffin with the words "Rabin is killing Zionism" on it.
In the 1996 general elections, most of Rabin's family members got together to try and foil Netanyahu's campaign and prevent his election as prime minister of Israel.
Over the years, the Rabin family has boycotted Netanyahu and has not made any contact with him.
Recently, Yuval Rabin has been singing a different tune regarding Netanyahu, and people who have spoken to him say he speaks of the opposition chairman with ease and now views him as a legitimate candidate for prime minister of Israel.
Rabin, who is located at the center of the political map, but has been disappointed by the Labor Party, reportedly came to this conclusion mainly from the feeling that there is no other worthy alternative in the next elections.
