Israeli minister wants change in law

JERUSALEM, Oct. 27 (JTA) — The case of the Maryland murder suspect who fled to Israel is apparently having some long-lasting ripple effects. Israeli Justice Minister Tzachi Hanegbi says he supports changing the amendment to Israel’s extradition law to enable the extradition of Israeli citizens for trial abroad in special cases. The amendment currently bans Israel from extraditing any Jew who has Israeli citizenship. The law has recently drawn much attention because of the case of Samuel Sheinbein, the 17-year-old suburban Maryland resident suspected in a brutal murder of a fellow teen-ager in the United States. Sheinbein, who was born in the United States to an Israeli father, fled to Israel in September. Israel at first refused to extradite him, citing the law extending Israeli citizenship to children of Israeli citizens. After pressure from the United States, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein ruled that Sheinbein could be extradited. The decision was based in part on U.S. and Canadian documents from the late 1940s, when the Sheinbein family first sought to leave Israel. He is currently being held in Israel, pending an extradition hearing.