Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir, acting on the recommendation of police investigators, said today that he would not open criminal proceedings against two Knesset members who met with Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasir Arafat in Tunis last month.
Zamir had asked for an investigation to determine whether MKs Matityahu Peled and Mohammed Miari of the Progressive List for Peace, had jeopardized State security by meeting with Arafat. Zamir’s decision, based on the findings, was in line with rulings in similar cases in the past that open meetings with Arafat or other PLO representatives could not be construed as “contact with the enemy” within the meaning of the criminal code.
Zamir said, in an official statement, that the two MKs had provided a “reasonable explanation” for their meeting with Arafat and that it had not been their intention to compromise State security. Rulings by the Supreme Court in earlier cases determined that intent is a prerequisite for proving guilt.
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