THE TESTIMONY OF CHIEF LIEUTENANT BARUCH GLADSTEIN |
Everyone who saw the "amateur" film of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin witnessed the alleged murderer Yigal Amir shoot the prime minister from a good two feet behind him. The conclusion of the Shamgar Commission, which investigated the assassination for the government, concluded that Yigal Amir shot Yitzhak Rabin first from between 70 and 90 cm distance and then while standing a half meter above him. The Shamgar Comission determined that Yigal Amir first shot Yitzhak Rabin from about 50 cm. distance. Then bodyguard Yoran Rubin jumped on Yitzhak Rabin, pushing him to the ground. Yigal Amir was simultaneously accosted by two policemen who held both his arms. Yey somehow Yigal Amir managed to step forward and shoot downward, first hitting Rubin in the elbow and then Yitzhak Rabin in the waist from about 30-40 cm. distance. The amateur film of the assassination disputes the whole conclusion. After the first shot, Yitzhak Rabin keeps walking, there is a cut in the film and Yitzhak Rabin re- appears standing all alone. Rubin did not jump on him and Yigal Amir has disappeared from the screen. He did not move closer nor get off two shots off at the prone Rubin or Yitzhak Rabin. And there is indisputable scientific proof to back what the camera recorded.>>What , if the shots that killed Yitzhak Rabin were from point blank range and 25 cm distance? END CHANGES Obviously, if so, Yigal Amir couldn't have shot them. |
Now consider the testimony of Chief Lieutenant Baruch Gladstein of Israel Police's Materials and Fibers Laboratory, given at the trial of Yigal Amir on 28/1/96. Gladstein: "I serve in the Israel Police Fibers and Materials Laboratory. I presented my professional findings in a summation registered as Report 39/T after being asked to test the clothing of Yitzhak Rabin and his bodyguard Yoram Rubin with the aim of determing the range of the shots. |
"I would like to say a few words of explanation before presenting my findings. We reach our conclusions after testing materials microscopically, photographically and through sensitive chemical and technical procedures. After being shot, particles from the cartridge are expelled through the barrel. They include remains of burnt carbon, lead, copper and other metals... "The greater the distance of the shot, the less the concentration of the particles and the more they are spread out. At point blank range, there is another phenomenon, a characteristic tearing of the clothing and abundance of gunpowder caused by the gases of the cartridge having nowhere to escape. Even if the shot is from a centimeter, two or three you won't see the tearing and abundance of gunpowder. These are evident only from point blank shots. "To further estimate range, we shoot the same bullets, from the suspected weapon under the same circumstances. On 5/11/96, I received the prime minister's jacket, shirt and undershirt as well as the clothes of the bodyguard Yoram Rubin including his jacket, shirt and undershirt. In the upper section of the prime minister's jacket I found a bullet hole to the right of the seam, which according to my testing of the spread of gunpowder was caused by a shot from less than 25 cm. range. The same conclusion was reached after testing the shirt and undershirt. "The second bullet hole was found on the bottom left hand side of the jacket. It was characterized by a massed abundance of gunpowder, a large quantity of lead and a 6 cm. tear, all the characteristics of a point blank shot." The author rudely interrupts lest anyone miss the significance of the testimony. Chief Lieutenant Glatstein testifies that the gun which killed Yitzhak Rabin was shot first from less than 25 cm. range and then the barrel was placed on his skin. In fact, according to a witness at the trial, Natan Gefen, Gladstein said 10 cm and such was originally typed into the court protocols. The number 25 was crudely written atop the original 10. If the assassination film is to be believed, Yigal Amir never had a 25 cm. or 10 cm. shot at Yitzhak Rabin or even close to one. As dramatic a conclusion as this is, Officer Glatstein isn't through. Far from it. "As to the lower bullet hole, according to the powder and lead formations and the fact that a secondary hole was found atop the main entry hole, it is highly likely that the prime minister was shot while bending over. The angle was from above to below. I have photographs to illustrate my conclusions." The court was now shown photographs of Yitzhak Rabin's clothing. We add, according to the Shamgar Commission findings, Yitzhak Rabin was shot first standing up and again while prone on the ground covered by Yoram Rubin's body. Nowhere else but in Gladstein's expert testimony is there so much as a hint that he was shot while in a bent-over position. "After examing the bullet hole in the sleeve of Yoram Rubin, I determined that the presence of copper and lead, plus the collection of gunpowder leads to the likelihood that he, too, was shot from near point blank range... The presence of copper means the bullet used to shoot Rubin was different from that found in the prime minister's clothing which was composed entirely of lead. The bullet that was shot at Rubin was never found." We know enter the realms of the bizarre, as is always the case when Yigal Amir chooses to cross-examine a witness. Chief Lieutenant Gladstein has provided the proof that Yigal Amir did not shoot the bullets that killed Yitzhak Rabin, yet Yigal Amir is determined to undermine the testimony. |
| Yigal Amir: "According to your testimony, I placed the gun right on his back." Gladstein: "You placed the gun on his back on the second shot and fired." Yigal Amir: "And the first shot was from 50 cm?" Gladstein: "Less than 20 cm." Yigal Amir: "If one takes into account that there is more gunpowder from the barrel, then the muzzle blast should also increase." Gladstein: "To solve this problem, I shoot the same ammunition, and in your case, from the same gun, I shot the Baretta 9 mm weapon with hollowpoint bullets into the prime minister's jacket." Yigal Amir: "When I took the first shot, I saw a very unusual blast." |
Yigal Amir is close to realizing finally that he shot a blank bullet but blows his case when he concludes, "We need a new expert because I didn't shoot from point blank range." Away all talk about far-right, conspiracy nut theories. The Materials and Fibers Laboratory of Israel Police concluded that Yitzhak Rabin was shot from less than 20 cm and point blank range, no matter what Yigal Amir says. Furthermore, the bodyguard Yoram Rubin was shot by a different bullet than felled Yitzhak Rabin or was found in Yigal Amir's clip. Unless Israel Police's fibers expert is deliberately promoting far-right, conspiracy nut theories, Yigal Amir's gun did not kill Yitzhak Rabin. |
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