Yigal Amir, who on November 4, 1995, killed Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, is the subject of Yaron Zilberman’s quietly harrowing “Incitement” (set for VOD on 4.29.20).
“Incitement” starts two years before Rabin’s assassination when the prime minister signed the declaration of principles for the Oslo peace accords with Yasser Arafat, mass demonstrations ensued all around Israel, spearheaded by the opposition party, which was led by a youthful and furious Benjamin Nethanyahu.
The film shows the Orthodox Yigal (Yehuda Nahari Halevi in a magnetic performance), studying law at Tel Aviv’s Bar Ilan University, but when his girlfriend Nava (Daniella Kertesz) breaks up with him due to Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditional differences, he snaps and further immerses himself in the anti-peace movements which were rapidly building up all around the country. Of note, Halevi comes from the same neighborhood of Herzliya as Amir and his family belonging to the same synagogue as the assassin’s.
Throughout, Amir tries to find justification for committing this act of political violence, finding an obscure Talmudic passage known as “the law of the pursuer” which would make Rabin’s murder legitimate, even mandatory, under Jewish law. He consults with rabbis, one after the other, as his idea for the assassination grows, asking about it in veiled terms, but trying to get one of them to cryptically encourage the murder of the prime minister. Of course, no rabbi he speaks to outright tells him to commit the crime, but none of them forbid it as well.
As the film moves towards its painstakingly horrific and foregone conclusion, Zilberman is always focused on Amir’s psyche. The conclusion as to why he did it never as simple as thought nor as predictable as the history books may have claimed. Yigal’s own parents were split on the Oslo accords, his mom (a strong Amat Ravnitzki) somewhat siding with her son and dad (Amitay Yaish Ben Ousilio), a Torah scribe, enraged that so much hate could enter his child’s head.
Much like most political assassins of the past, Amir wanted to change history, he wanted the total halt of the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians, which was then mediated by a driven Bill Clinton. Although somewhat controversial upon its release in Israel, “Incitement” nevertheless won 10 Ophirs, Israel’s Academy Awards, including Best Picture and set off a fascinating, and therapeutic, discussion about this dark time in the country’s history.
Shooting from the point of view of the assassin himself, Zilberman, who conducted 4-year’s worth of research on the Rabin assassination, delivers a chilling portrait of how fanatical rage could easily be triggered in a divisive political climate. Watching “Incitement” you can’t help but think of how savagely divided the U.S. is today and how such a tragedy could easily be paralleled. After all, it just takes one disillusioned soul to act out on his or her rage and God knows there are plenty of people like Amir out just waiting to be triggered.
Co-written by Zilberman and Ron Leshem, the film tries to find the conclusive trigger for Yigal’s actions, when did the idea of assassinating Rabin enter his head? What made it grow profusely to the point of being incited to do the unthinkable? As in life itself, it is never that simple. Never does a calculated and purposeful assassination arrive out of thin air, there are moments, both grand and small, which build up to a point of no return. [B+]