The small Communist fraction in Israel’s Parliament tried today, and failed, to cancel the Government’s approval of payment of $20, 000 for the defense counsel fees and expenses in connection with the forthcoming trial of Adolf Eichmann, the SS officer who directed the extermination of 6, 000, 000 European Jews during the Hitler regime.
Communist Shmuel Mikunis introduced a motion at today’s session of the Knesset, calling for cancelation of the Government’s decision to pay the $20, 000 Eichmann defense costs, insisting that Dr. Robert Servatius, Eichmann’s attorney, is a neo-Nazi.
Justice Minister Pinhas Rosen, replying to Mr. Mikunis, told Parliament that it is “in the interests of Israel’s national and international obligations” to provide adequate defense for the accused Nazi killer. It is for that reason, Mr. Rosen said, that the Government decided to pay the $20, 000.
Mr. Rosen said that Dr. Servatius has been informed the $20, 000 figure is all the Government would pay, regardless of the length of time the trial would take. Furthermore, the Justice Minister stated, Dr. Servatius will be required to declare formally that no funds are available to Eichmann’s family for the defense of the prisoner. Eichmann is now in an Israeli jail, and his trial–which may last for months–is scheduled to start March 6.
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.
