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Was Robert Kennedy killed because he supported Israel?

Historian Colin Shindler looks back at the final years of Senator Robert Kennedy's career as the 50th anniversary of his assassination approaches

May 31, 2018 10:43
Robert Kennedy was shot dead in 1968
3 min read

Shortly after midnight on 5 June 1968, Robert Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian living in the US, in the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles during his campaign to become president.

Kennedy died the next day – it was the first anniversary of the outbreak of the Six Day war.

In subsequent years, Sirhan Sirhan’s confused explanations often mentioned Kennedy’s support for Israel and the supply of 50 F-4 Phantom fighters to Tel Aviv.

Coming a few months after the murder of Martin Luther King and the killing of his brother President John F Kennedy in 1963, British tabloids captured the widespread anguish with headlines as "Oh no, not again!"