Premier Yitzhak will be fined administratively by the Treasury authorities IL 15,000 for his part in the family’s illegal bank accounts in Washington. He will not be brought to trial alongside his wife. Leah. This Treasury decision, reportedly taken in consultation with Attorney General Aharon Barak, was reported tonight on Israel Radio.
At the same time, the Attorney General and other legal aides have reportedly decided that Rabin cannot constitutionally relinquish his office of Premier of the interim government. The Cabinet is to meet tomorrow to discuss the implications of this legal ruling.
The radio report said Rabin agreed to be fined administratively–and revoked his earlier insistence on standing trial alongside his wife–because of the fact that he would have to continue serving as Prime Minister in the months ahead.
The “honor” of the lofty post had persuaded him to take the fine and allow his wife to go in the dock alone. Mrs. Rabin herself, the radio added, and other close aides had urged him to take this step. Without Rabin’s consent, no administrative fine could have been imposed on him since this penalty is in the nature of an accord between the offender and the Treasury authorities.
POSSIBLE BASIS FOR ARRANGEMENT
It was not immediately clear why Barak had agreed to this arrangement; earlier he had reliably been reported as insisting that Rabin be interrogated by Treasury investigators to determine if he knew of the account and the use his wife had put it to. Barak had said that if Rabin knew, he would have to face trial just like his wife. If, on the other hand, he did not know, then his offense would be adjudged purely technical, and no fine whatever would be levied on him.
Thus it was not clear why the Attorney General had apparently shifted his position. One knowledgeable source said that Rabin’s fall from office was itself a mitigating circumstance–after its occurrence–which Barak could now take into consideration in order to re-evaluate his earlier approach and agree now to let Rabin off with an administrative fine.
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