MR YIGAL AMIR (25), the Israeli who shot dead the former prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, last November, yesterday tried to defend himself against murder charges by claiming the killing was not premeditated.
Asked how he pleaded to murder and conspiracy charges, Mr Amir ignored the advice of one of his lawyers that he plead not guilty, and instead delivered a rambling justification of his actions that legal experts said amounted to an admission of manslaughter but not of murder.
"My aim was to shoot him in such a way as to end his activity as prime minister," the Orthodox Jewish law student said, "either by paralysing him or, if there was no choice, by killing him."
Mr Amir, who shot Rabin twice in the back from point blank range at the end of a peace rally in Tel Aviv last November 4th, faces life plus more than 40 years' imprisonment on murder and related charges. One of his lawyers had advised him to plead not guilty on the grounds of temporary insanity, and to seek court approval for a series of psychiatric tests.
But Mr Amir elected to make a confession of sorts, in which he confessed to the killing, and said he had acted "for the glory of God" to save Israel from the land for peace policies being pursued by Mr Rabin in the peace process with the Palestinians.
The Tel Aviv District Court judge, Judge Edmond Levy, ordered a recess until next Sunday to give time to sort out some of the legal wrangling. Specifically, Mr Amir will have to decide which of his lawyers is representing him, or whether he wants to represent himself.
Few legal analysts believe he has much chance of avoiding a murder conviction, particularly since he happily admitted to the killing several times in the first weeks after the assassination, and told investigators of numerous previous assassination attempts and plans.
Ironically, the killing of Mr Rabin has changed the course of Israeli history, but hardly in the way Mr Amir would have wished. Under Mr Rabin's successor, Mr Shimon Peres, Israel has smoothly completed most of its military withdrawal from Palestinian cities in the West Bank. And right wing opponents, cowed by the killing, have hardly mustered significant protest.
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper in Tel Aviv yesterday quoted from what it said was a transcript of one of Mr Amir's interrogation sessions. Investigators focused in the session on his relationship with Ms Margalit Har Shefi, a West Bank settler and law school classmate arrested and released without charge following the killing.
"We talked about Baruch Goldstein," Mr Amir was quoted as saying in reference to the US born Jewish settler who massacred 29 Arab worshippers in a mosque in Hebron in February 1994. "In order to get to know someone, I usually ask one question what do you think about Goldstein? That shows me if the girl is attractive or superficial."