Rabin killer gets conjugal visit in jail

The religious fanatic who murdered the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin 11 years ago was given 10 hours alone in jail with his wife for the first time on a conjugal visit yesterday.

The privilege granted Yigal Amir - which was described as a "disgrace to democracy" by the Peace Now leader Yariv Oppenheimer - came after a change of heart by the security service Shin Bet. It had earlier argued Amir could use visits to pass secret messages to supporters outside the jail.

The Prison Service provided Amir, 36, and his wife, Larissa Trimbobler, with a private room for the visit at the Ayalon prison at Ramle. The couple married in a proxy ceremony after Ms Trimbobler visited him in jail.

Amir has been conducting a two-year legal battle for the right to marry and have children. In a hearing in the Tel Aviv District Court last Friday, Yuval Diskin, the head of Shin Bet, said Amir was no longer a risk to Israel's security.

Mr Oppenheimer said: "The legal authorities had opportunities to prevent the conjugal visit but gave in to the will of the killer." Nehemiah Strasler, a commentator on the liberal daily Haaretz, said future assassins would be encouraged by the privileges.