Cabinet Inquiry Commission Justifies Police Action at Hebrew U.

Although a “small number of policemen” acted with undue violence in the clashes May 5 between the police and students at the Hebrew University during the visit of former West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, the special inquiry commission appointed by the Cabinet to investigate the incident found that in general, the police behaved “according to circumstances. “

Asserting that members of both sides were at fault in the student demonstrations that gave rise to charges of police brutality, the commission’s report noted that the students shouted abuse at the police and that the police used their batons too freely in putting down the demonstration.

The commission placed part of the blame for the violence on the fact that the students were not told of the special orders to police to prevent demonstrations within sight of the former Chancellor. The students were also not told that the University administration had agreed to the presence of policemen on the campus during Adenauer’s visit there.

The special orders to the police, which originated at the Foreign Ministry, were aimed at preventing insults as well as bodily harm to the visitor. The fact that the orders were kept secret, the commission reported, confused the students who believed that quiet demonstrations were permitted on the campus as they had been in previous visits by other dignitaries.