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Levinger Trial for Manslaughter is Postponed for a Second Time

July 14, 1989
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The manslaughter trial of Rabbi Moshe Levinger was postponed for the second time Thursday, after the militant Gush Emunim leader from Hebron claimed he could not find an affordable lawyer.

Levinger is charged with the fatal shooting in September 1988 of Kayed Salah, 42, an Arab shoe vendor in Hebron.

He also is charged with deliberately damaging Arab property in the predominantly Arab city.

Jerusalem District Court Judge Ezra Hedaya gave Levinger two weeks to engage legal counsel and ordered the proceedings to resume on Aug.7.

Levinger agreed to accept a court-appointed lawyer if he is unable to find a suitable attorney of his own in the next two weeks.

The courtroom was packed with reporters, but Levinger did not indulge in the histrionics he has displayed in the past.

At his last postponement hearing, he brandished a firearm demonstratively at the news media as he left the courthouse.

Levinger blames the Arabs who he says stoned him and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who has been unable to end the Palestinian uprising.

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