Ben-gurion Orders Investigation of Army Aides Involved in Lavon Case

The Prime Minister’s office issued a communique last night which lifted somewhat the screen of secrecy over the reexamination of the 1955 security case in which Pinhas Lavon was forced to resign as Minister of Defense.

Mr. Lavon, who is now secretary general of the Histadrut, protested at the time that he was not responsible for the situation found by a two-man investigating committee. The nature of the findings has never been disclosed.

The communique said that by order of Prime Minister. David Ben-Gurion as Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff had appointed a three-man investigating committee “to examine the conduct of a regular Army officer and a reserve officer, following a decision handed down by a civil court in connection with a certain accused which makes necessary a reexamination of the reliability of the two officers. The committee’s conclusion will be presented to the Cabinet and the Justice Ministry will probably take the necessary steps.”

The communique indicated that the new inquiry committee, which is headed by Supreme Court Justice Haim Cohen, will not be concerned directly with Mr. Lavon’s role in the 1955 security situation. The new investigation will look only into the question of whether two officers who testified before the 1955 committee perjured themselves, as a recent civil trial seemed to indicate. It was this possibility of perjured testimony which led to reopening of the case.

Mr. Lavon’s supporters have maintained since his resignation that he had been the victim of a frame-up and several newspapers have hinted that personalities higher up than the two officers were involved. Mr. Lavon was Defense Minister while Mr. Ben-Gurion was in self-imposed retirement at his retreat at Sde Boker. After Mr. Lavon resigned, Mr. Ben-Gurion returned to the Cabinet as Defense Minister, subsequently replacing Moshe Sharett as Prime Minister.

Mr. Lavon’s associates continued to insist that new evidence, particularly that from the recent civil trial, was sufficient for full rehabilitation of Mr. Lavon but the Prime Minister decided he wanted to have the findings of a new investigation before further action in the case.

Mr. Lavon indicated today he had no intention of appearing before the committee named to reopen the 1955 case in which he was forced to resign as Minister of Defense. He said that evidence already possessed by Prime Minister Ben-Gurion, who ordered the case reopened when the evidence was uncovered, was “amply sufficient” to give him full rehabilitation.

Israeli newspapers hinted yesterday that high-ranking personalities might be involved in the new development. One newspaper, Maariv, said editorially that the evidence now held by the Prime Minister was enough to justify full rehabilitation of Mr. Lavon and asked the Prime Minister to make a public statement to that effect even before the new committee finished its investigation.