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As a public service, IMW views the following article from Jerusalem Post Sunday, October 4, 1998 - 14 Tishri 5759, as in the interest of visitors to our web site. |
JERUSALEM (October 4) - The state prosecution has not been remiss and is not evading taking action against General Security Service agent Avishai Raviv, but further evidence is required before a decision is made whether to press charges against him, Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein said in a sharply worded statement Friday.
Rubinstein was responding to a call by Deputy Minister Michael Eitan for a state commission of inquiry into Raviv's actions prior to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
In a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Eitan also demanded that such a commission examine whether the state attorney had been remiss about charging Raviv and had hidden facts from the Shamgar Commission, which investigated the assassination.
Eitan said he has a great deal of material indicating that the main motive for not pressing charges against Raviv was not considerations of state security, but rather an attempt to cover up for the mistakes of those who had employed Raviv.
He implied that both State Attorney Edna Arbel and GSS head Ami Ayalon had "whitewashed" the affair in their reports to the cabinet.
"A policy of allowing secret-service agents to disregard the law and regulations, in the knowledge that they will never be brought to trial, does not strengthen the GSS but rather weakens it," Eitan wrote to Netanyahu. "We are broadcasting a message of lack of law and order to the public."
Rubinstein responded that the State Attorney's Office is still involved in its investigation. "The only consideration about whether to press charges is one of evidence. To close the case would have been easy a year ago," he said, "but further time is required to gather evidence" and see whether to press charges.
"We are aware what a weighty matter is in our hands. There is no body at present that is pushing to have the case closed," Rubinstein said, apparently referring to reports that the GSS had attempted to keep the role of Raviv under wraps.
"The only question is one of sufficient evidence. In the end, the public will know - whether or not we bring [Raviv] to trial - what the evidence was and why [the specific decision was taken]," he promised, noting that "this is an extremely complicated case."
The Prime Minister's Office last night released a statement urging that no one cast aspersions on the GSS and the state prosecution.
"The attorney-general must be allowed to carry out his functions and to take decisions in an appropriate fashion," Netanyahu's spokesman said.
IMW is a registered non-profit organization whose major aim is assuring the ethical and fair conduct of the Israeli media.
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