The widow of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Leah Rabin, has expressed "outrage" at the Israeli parliament's failure to elect Shimon Peres as the country's new president, according to an interview published Tuesday.
"The parliament's vote which prevented (Peres) from becoming president of the republic is a true scandal," Rabin told the Italian daily newspaper Repubblica.
"I am truly sad, discouraged and outraged by what occurred in the Knesset (Parliament)," she said.
"The deputies put aside conscience, intelligence, and historical direction in favor of political calculation, narrow party interests, and partisanship," she lamented.
"In saying no to Peres as president, they wanted to send a message against peace, against the negotiations for which Shimon, my husband Yitzhak and now his successor Ehud Barak have fought valiantly," Rabin added.
Accusing parliament of seeking to humiliate Peres, Barak and the peace movement, Rabin said the deputies had in effect "humiliated Israel in the eyes of the world."
"I hope that Barak can resist, renew the government, and continue the battle for peace," Rabin said. "It is too important a battle to abandon now just when the finish line is in sight."
Right-wing Israeli legislator Moshe Katsav was elected as the country's eighth president Monday in a shock parliamentary win over the favored Peres, securing 63 votes to 57 in a second-round vote - ROME (AFP)
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