JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli officials say Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin will be taken out of solitary confinement for the first time since his arrest 17 years ago.

Prisons service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman says ultranationalist Jewish extremist Yigal Amir will leave his solitary cell in the next few days in line with a court order earlier this year.

The court ruled the reasons for keeping him separate are no longer valid.

In the past, Amir was isolated for fear he would disseminate his views to others. Amir opposed Rabin’s efforts at peacemaking with the Palestinians and has never expressed remorse for gunning him down after a peace rally on Nov. 4, 1995.

Officials also thought in the past that he should be kept in solitary confinement for fear other prisoners might harm him.

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