The government easily defeated four non-confidence motions in the Knesset Tuesday arising from the growing scandal over a “senior official” Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir wants to prosecute for obstruction of justice.
But the acrimonious five-hour debate that proceeded the show of hands voting, cast no light on the affair which has been described by Zamir and other legal authorities as a confrontation between the rule of law and those who
The “senior official” in question has not been identified publicly and no name was mentioned in the course of the debate. But knowledgeable sources here have confirmed overseas press reports that he is
It is also generally acknowledged that Zamir wants the police to investigate evidence that Shalom blocked an investigation into the unexplained deaths of two Arab bus hijackers after they
INNERCABINET REJECTS PROBE
Premier Shimon Peres convened his 10-man Inner Cabinet (five Labor and five Likud
The only dissenter from that position strongly supported by Premier Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, was Ezer Weizman, Minister-Without-Portfolio. He reportedly backed Zamir’s desire to prosecute.
With the affair shrouded in official secrecy, the media are raising questions and demanding answers. One question is whether Shamir, who was Prime Minister at the time of the bus hijack had
It also asks whether Peres had information when he took office nearly two years ago and, if he did, why he did not order an investigation. It has been speculated that the captured terrorists were beaten to death by
The IDF testified at a hearing that it handed the two over alive to the border police and the latter say they were alive when turned over to Shabak operatives for interrogation. Shabak claims it received two
Another question raised is whether pressure was put on Zamir by the government to drop his probe. Zamir says it was. Peres denies it. Justice Minister Yitzhak Zamir observed Tuesday that there is only a “very thin line” between “active persuasion” and the
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