Rabin, the Last Day Page #7

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ID number 02 44 06 001.

Address:
86 Sharett Street, Tel Aviv.

Mr. Kedem, it's my duty to warn you

that you must say the truth,

the whole truth

and nothing but the truth

or you may be punished

as prescribed by law.

Mr. Kedem,

what do you do for a living?

By training I'm an accredited lawyer,

by trade I own 50%

of a certain small business

that's just starting out.

I'm also a cofounder

of Generation of Peace,

that's short for

A Whole Generation Demands Peace,

an organization that was founded

just after the assassination.

What did you do at the rally?

We were making our way

toward the stairs

where we hoped to get

a glance of Yitzhak Rabin.

We were thrilled by his courage

in continuing the peace process

despite the despicable attacks

by the fascist Right.

Please focus on the rally itself.

Do you remember barriers

being placed at a certain point?

While we were waiting for Shimon Peres

and Yitzhak Rabin,

I was talking with my girlfriend

about the very question of security

because what we saw there

seemed very odd.

Odd? In what way?

- Can you be more specific?

- Certainly.

First of all, when we got there

there was no order

and no one in charge.

A uniformed Riot Squad commander

was standing there

giving orders to his men:

You stand here, you do this.

I'm referring to the shoddy measures

that end in tragedy.

He stood there greeting his friends

who'd just arrived.

How are you? How's it going?

Chatting with them.

Can you show us exactly

where that was?

- Yes, if you have a diagram.

- Yes.

Sigal, can you show us

the diagram of the square?

We'll bring out a diagram

and you can show us exactly.

Go ahead.

Here was the barrier

on the stairway.

After that were two

or three barriers

that continued to the street

leading out of the parking lot.

I was standing -

After they put the barriers in place,

I stood behind the barrier

closest to the exit from the parking lot.

I was the last in line

where Shimon Peres came down

to shake people's hands.

The last person to shake his hand

before he went behind his Volvo

was me.

So you walk around freely.

Yes, we walked around freely,

more or less,

and from time to time

a policeman said, Folks, move back.

It was the same policeman

who later gave orders

to the Riot Squad.

Did you see what was happening

on the roof?

People stood there freely,

and I told my girlfriend

that a sniper would have

no problem shooting from there.

It also bothered me

that in the City Garden corner

there was only one

border patrolman.

Do you really think that I,

a simple bystander,

should be giving you

all this information?

Don't any of the so-called

security forces have any answers?

What's going on here?

Please state your name,

ID number and position.

My name is Rafael Yulazri.

I'm a police superintendent, commander

of the Ayalon District Riot Squad,

ID number 567 776.

It's my duty to warn you

that you must say the truth,

- the whole truth and nothing but the truth -

- Yes, sir.

Or you may be punished

as prescribed by law.

Please tell us about the rally

on November 4.

What was your position then?

I was under the deputy commander

of the Yarkon District Riot Squad,

provisory,

on the southwestern corner

of the stage.

What time did you arrive?

If my memory serves...

around 4:
30.

- 4:
30 PM.

- Yes.

- I came at 4:
30.

- 4:
30 PM.

And I went straight

to the first briefing,

and a half hour or hour later

I was asked to reinforce

the City Garden roof.

Reinforce? What do you mean?

Was someone there?

No, no one was there.

He asked me to place two men there.

I did

and added a few more men

including myself.

- Were there people in the parking lot?

- Yes.

A lot of people,

plainclothes security agents,

drivers.

Lots of people with food.

People with trays of food

going up and down.

And basically,

we sent away everyone

who wasn't supposed to be there.

Did you check any of the people

in the parking lot?

Not those beyond the barrier.

There was this secret service agent...

who told us to send them away.

So everyone we checked

who didn't have authorization,

we got rid of.

Other people came from the west

and the secret service agent pointed out

that people were coming in.

So I sent two men

from the Yarkon Riot Squad

over there,

and from then on,

almost nobody got in.

I can't say that the place was

totally sealed, but I can say -

Please go back to your place.

That everyone the secret agent

told us to get rid of -

- Yes, but go back to your place.

- we got rid of,

and from then on it was

the secret service's responsibility.

Yes, but you relied on his opinion.

Naturally.

But did you, the police,

also check people?

You see someone standing there,

leaning on a car.

Did anyone go up and ask him,

Who are you?

What are you doing here?

I want to make it clear

that the job we police did that day -

- Please go back to your place.

- Fine.

We police worked very hard that day.

We worked on the barrier.

It was war.

- We had to fight -

- Let me help you.

We had to fight

to keep it together.

Tell me exactly

what your assignment was.

To reinforce the troops

so people wouldn't get in

from Ibn Gabirol Street,

and that's just what we did.

I wasn't told to make

the place airtight.

No, not airtight.

But I'm asking

if anyone asked you,

the policemen in charge

of the barrier,

did anyone tell you to check

who the people in the parking lot were?

I don't want to press the point,

but I personally

was never told anything

about making the place sterile!

Okay?

But it was obvious that

whoever didn't belong there

should be removed.

Or whoever the secret service agent said

was authorized to be there.

I gather from your words that you were

at the secret service's disposal.

To do whatever they told us.

From then on, the place

was almost completely sealed off.

No one could get in

from either the west or the east

unless they were authorized,

and we checked them.

Authorized like the assassin,

for instance?

No. Not the assassin.

I don't remember him coming in

or leaving.

No,

because he was already there.

Excuse me, sir,

are you being cynical?

No. He was already there.

He was there.

I beg your pardon,

but your cynicism is out of place.

Please continue

and stick to the facts.

He was there

and you didn't remove him.

That's true,

but your cynical implication that -

I beg your pardon.

No name-calling.

I'm asking you,

he was there

and you didn't remove him.

If you, sir, put it that way,

- I'll answer in kind.

- Go ahead.

I don't -

It's possible that he was there.

I don't know.

Mrs. Orot, please sum up

the testimony in two sentences.

Superintendent Rafael Yulazri's assignment

was to reinforce the troops

in order to prevent people coming in

from Ibn Gabirol Street.

The area was not defined as sterile.

He was not told explicitly

to remove everyone,

but it was clear that

unauthorized people

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