Israel: A Deep Sigh Of Relief

While Israelis were in a holiday mood last week, many of the country’s top political leaders had their own cause for celebration. They rejoiced over a sober 65-page Justice Ministry report that cleared Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres of complicity in the 1984 murders of two captured Arab bus hijackers by agents of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency.

The report, which ended official inquiries into government involvement in the slayings, blamed former Shin Bet Chief Avraham Shalom, who resigned in June in exchange for immunity from prosecution, and three of his assistants for the murders and a subsequent cover-up. President Chaim Herzog pardoned Shalom and his aides, as well as seven other Shin Bet agents.

Shamir promptly called last week for a halt to divisive public debate over the killings. But the controversy seems likely to heat up again next year, when campaigning begins for the 1988 election.