A Jerusalem district court today named two Israel Defense Force officers who are being held in custody in connection with the June, 1980 car bombings that maimed two West Bank Arab mayors and injured a police sapper attempting to dismantle a bomb intended for a third mayor.
The suspects are Maj. Shlomo Livyatan, 34, of Shilo on the West Bank and Capt. Aharon Gilla, 35, of Jerusalem. They were arrested last week in the ongoing investigation of a Jewish terrorist underground believed responsible for acts of violence and planned acts against Arab civilians during the past four years. So far 27 persons have been indicted for offenses ranging from attempted murder and sabotage to membership in an illegal organization.
Judge Yisrael Weiner ruled that despite their clean military records, the two officers should remain in custody for the duration of the legal proceedings. According to Weiner, evidence presented so far could lead to the conviction of Livyatan for placing explosives in the cars of Mayors Bassam Shaka of Nablus and Karin Khallaf of Ramallah. Both were crippled. If convicted, Livyatan would face a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.
Gilla is accused of having accompanied a Druze police sapper to the garage of Mayor Ibrahim A-Tawil of El Bireh. Although he was fully aware that a bomb had been placed in the mayor’s car, he failed to warn the sapper who was permanently blinded when the bomb exploded. Gilla was not injured.
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