‘Incitement’ Wins Best Picture at Ophir, Becomes Israel’s Oscar Entry

“Incitement,” a drama about the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist in 1995, was named best picture at the Ophir Awards, Israel’s Oscars. It automatically became the Israeli submission in the international feature film category at the Academy Awards.

“Rabin was a giant of a man who was murdered because of his struggle to bring peace,” director and co-writer Yaron Zilberman said in his acceptance speech. He added that he hoped that “a leader can arise who, instead of dividing and inciting, can unite us and cause us to love one another, raising the level of love and not the level of violence.”

Told from the point of view of assassin Yigal Amir, “Incitement” triumphed over the satiric comedy “Tel Aviv on Fire”, workplace sexual harassment story “Working Woman,” cop drama “Love Trilogy: Chained,” and “The Unorthodox,” about the founding of the Haredi Shas Party.