Pinhas Lavon did not, as the Israel Defense Minister in 1954, give the order for the “security mishap” which led to his forced resignation in 1955, according to the unanimous report of a seven-man Ministerial Committee issued today.
The report referred to “unsatisfactory relations” prevailing in the Defense Ministry at the time which may have led to the ill-fated security mishap. Mr. Lavon, in resigning, protested he had nothing to do with the order and in the years that followed, when he became Secretary-General of the Histadrut, continued to maintain that position.
The Ministerial committee today recommended, in the light of its findings, that the Israel Cabinet and the Committee for Security and Foreign Affairs of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, deal with the issue of relations between civilian and military authorities within the Defense Ministry.
The Committee also decided there was no further need for an inquiry and that only the Senior officer and one army reservist, whose names were not disclosed, bore responsibility for the 1954 mishap. The committee exonerated others mentioned in the course of various investigations.
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