"There were those who recently sought to cast a shadow on Gandhi's years of work in service of the State of Israel. … This was accompanied by a clear attempt to obscure or erase Gandhi's accomplishments and legacy, which simply will not happen. We will not let this happen." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made this promise to preserve and protect the controversial legacy of the late far-right minister of tourism, Rehavam “Gandhi" Zeevi, in a speech before the Knesset Oct. 24. It was yet another example of the prime minister's ongoing public and political campaign against the left.
Last week marked the 16th anniversary of Zeevi's assassination by Palestinian terrorists, on Oct. 17, 2001. Zeevi, better known by his nickname "Gandhi," was a major general in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who went on to become the minister of tourism in Ariel Sharon's Cabinet. He resigned from the government just one day before he was killed, to protest the IDF's evacuation of the Abu Snina neighborhood in Hebron. From the moment he first entered politics in 1988 until his assassination in 2001, Gandhi's agenda included various racist elements. Chief among these was his "transfer plan" for Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to neighboring Arab countries.
