Israel today informed the United Nations Security Council that it does not regard the Bernadotte case as closed, although insufficient evidence has been uncovered thus far to incriminate the Stern Group or any individuals.
Pointing out that the assassination took place in an isolated spot, the report declared that the only witnesses were five children whose descriptions of the assassins were divergent and confusing. The trial of two Sternist leaders, Nathan Friedman-Yellin and Matatiahu Shmuelevitz, before a special military court, disclosed no direct evidence whatever, the document stated. The court found that all the evidence submitted was circumstantial and under Israeli law there was a “reasonable doubt” that the murder had been carried out by order of the Sternists.
The Government of Israel, however, assured the Security Council that the investigation will continue in the hope that new clues may come to light “so that the perpetrators of the crime may yet be found and brought to trial,”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
