No criminal charges will be filed against Uri Avneri, editor of the weekly news magazine Haolam Hazeh, for having met with PLO chief Yasir Arafat in Beirut at the height of the war in Lebanon last summer. Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir ruled that there was no evidence for a possible criminal offense in holding that meeting, and therefore closed the file on the case.
Avneri’s meeting with Arafat was the first between an Israeli journalist and the terrorist leader. Avneri said after the meeting that he felt there was a basis for an Israeli dialogue with the PLO. There was considerable criticism in Israel, also among Avneri’s political friends, that he had met with Israel’s enemy at the height of the war that was aimed at ending PLO terrorism against Israel. Avneri, however, insisted that his meeting with Arafat constituted legitimate journalistic activity.
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