Attorney General Defends Karp Report

Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir today flatly rejected charges that his deputy, Yehudit Karp, had distorted the facts in her report on law enforcement in the administered territories. He denied specifically that her references to Jewish vigilantism going unpunished was politically motivated.

Zamir appeared before a joint meeting of the Knesset’s Legal Committee and its State Control Committee. The two panels convened to discuss the Karp report which aroused a fierce outcry from Jewish settlers on the West Bank when it was released by the government last week. The police, too, did not take kindly to Karp’s findings that taw enforcement in the territoritories was hampered by poor police work, although they agreed with the Deputy Attorney General that they were short of manpower.

Zamir told the MKs that former Premier Menachem Begin had recognized the need to establish a committee to investigate law enforcement in the territories and that Karp, who headed it, adhered strictly to the guidelines given her. At a press conference later, Zamir stressed that all of the findings in the report were well documented. He quoted police sources who termed the report “an objective document which reflected the real situation.”

Zamir said that while most Jewish settlers in the territories are law-abiding, “there is an extremist minority responsible for serious violations of the law.” He cited a pamphlet circulated by the town council of Kiryat Arba two years ago ordering residents not to cooperate with the Attorney General and the Stare prosecutor. Kiryat Arba, adjacent to Hebron, is a Gush Emunim stronghold.

Justice Minister Moshe Nissim said on a Voice of Israel Radio interview today that the Karp report was “helpful” insofar as it clarified the situation in the territories. He also rejected charges by Jewish settlers of distortion. Unlike Zamir, however, Nissim was lukewarm in defense of Karp’s integrity.

Karp completed her report 18 months ago. She resigned last year to protest the government’s failure to act on it. Portions of the report leaked to the press at the time reflected poorly on the conduct of Jewish settlers and implied that the police and civil authorities were less than vigorous in pressing charges against Jews accused of offenses against Arabs.

Karp withdrew here resignation ofter her report came under review at the highest level of government. The controversy surrounding it was renewed, however, when the report was belatedly released last Tuesday.