Compounding the apparent security lapses that made the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin possible, the Shin Bet admitted this week that it had been told in advance of a plot of carry out the killing, but had been unable to locate the potential suspect.
The disclosure was the latest blow to Israel’s domestic security service, which came under harsh criticism in the wake of an internal report targeting security lapses that made it possible for the assassin to get within point-blank shooting distance of Rabin at a Nov. 4 peace rally.
The head of the Shin Bet, identified only a “C.” for security reasons, said at Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting that the information provided in advance about the assassination was too general.
He added that Shin Bet officials had received dozens of reports about possible assassination plans.
The Shin Bet head reportedly offered to resign, but was asked to stay on by Acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who said he should remain until a state commission of inquiry issued its findings.
Peres expressed his full confidence in the Shin Bet, particularly the division charged with protecting dignitaries. However, the head of that division was one of several Shin Bet officials who resigned in the wake of the assassination.
Peres also called on the Cabinet to refrain from issuing public criticism of the Shin Bet’s operations.
The Cabinet voted last week to establish a state commission of inquiry into the assassination.
The three members of the commission – former Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar; reserve Maj. Gen. Zvi Zamir, a former head of the Mossad; and Professor Ariel Rosen-Zvi, dean of the faculty of law at Tel Aviv University – met for the first time last Friday.
The committee agreed to meet four days a week until it issued its findings.
Advance information about the assassination was conveyed to police last June, according to Israel Radio.
The informant was identified as Shlomo Halevy, a Jerusalem resident who studied law at Bar-Ilan University with the 25-year-old confessed assassin, Yigal Amir.
Israel Television reported that Halevy learned of Amir’s plans from another friend and then contacted a police officer who was his former commanding officer in the army.
Halevy gave a description of the person, but not his name. Halevy’s lawyer said this week that his client did not want to name Amir, in case the information was not accurate.
The revelation took place as Israeli authorities continued rounding up suspects in connection with the assassination.
Although Amir said he acted alone, police are pursuing the possibility that the killing of Rabin was the work of a group of right-wing conspirators.
A soldier serving in an elite combat unit was arrested last Friday on suspicion of supplying arms to Yigal Amir and his brother Hagai, who was also arrested in connection with the murder.
The soldier, identified as Arik Schwartz of the religious community Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, was arrested after weapons were found during a search of his home.
His father was also detained for allegedly knowing of his son’s activities, but was later released. Schwartz’s mother was also questioned.
Schwartz was the seventh suspect taken into custody. All the suspects were religious Jews identified with extremist right-wing groups militantly opposed to Rabin’s land-for-peace policy with the Palestinians.
Police Minister Moshe Shahal said in an interview on Israel Television last Friday that the ongoing investigation had two tracks: one into the specific activities of Yigal Amir, and the other into the right-wing extremist group, Ayal, to which he allegedly belonged.
Amir reportedly plotted the assassination for months with his older brother Hagai, 27.
They had planned eight previous assassination attempts, initially planning to kill Rabin outside his home in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Aviv, using a sniper’s rifle, Israel Radio reported.
Hagai Amir, who was brought before a Tel Aviv court on Sunday, had his custody extended by an additional 12 days.
Among other offenses, Hagai Amir is suspected of attempted murder and illegal possession of arms.
He said in court that he had nothing to do with his brother’s actions, and that his brother “was not crazy. He’s mature and knew exactly what he was doing.”
But Judge Dan Arbel rejected the idea that Yigal Amir acted alone, adding that evidence had been found of plans to commit other acts of violence, including car bomb attacks.
Last week, police found a cache of arms and explosives at the Amir home.
“Previous assassination attempts and car bombs planned by others lead us to believe there was a conspiracy and an organization,” the judge said. “This was not done by one man.”
In a related development, security officials reportedly located two rabbis who had given religious justification for killing the prime minister.
Israel Television identified them as Rabbi Nahum Rabinovich of Ma’aleh Adumim and Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba. Both men denied the reports.
Israel’s Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau said it was up to law enforcement officials to determine whether the reports were true.
But if they were true, Lau added, the rabbinate would convene a special committee to consider the spiritual and moral implications of the rabbis’ actions.
After his arrest, Yigal Amir said he had acted on God’s orders, because Rabin was giving away Jewish land to the Arabs. He reportedly consulted with a rabbi before carrying out the assassination.
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