IMW Lada'at - "Waiting for Rubinstein" - Hearing of GSS agent provocteur Avishai Raviv

Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein and State Prosecutor Edna Arbel
have not yet made public the results of a hearing they conducted on Friday
on behalf of GSS agent-provocateur Avishai Raviv. Raviv is on the verge
of being indicted for not preventing the murder of Prime Minister Yitzchak
Rabin, but he was given a last chance to plead his case on Friday. Raviv's
lawyer took the opportunity to argue that a Raviv trial would harm state
security and would reveal secrets and operational strategies of the General
Security Service.

The pre-indictment hearing for GSS agent Raviv has raised a number of
eyebrows in the legal world. "It represents a departure from legal
protocol to date," says Atty. Naftali Wurtzberger. "The original goal of
such hearings was to give the suspect an opportunity to present his side
prior to the issuing of an indictment. Former Atty.-Gen'l. Meir Shamgar's
guidelines stipulated that only prominent public figures, or others for
whom an indictment would cause significant personal damage, should be
entitled to such a hearing. It is hard to understand how Raviv would fit
into this category. His file carries ramifications for the General Security
Service and its method of operations, but not for Raviv personally."

As for the claim that a trial on the matter would damage to Israeli
national security, Wurtzberger noted, "This type of argument should be
presented by the GSS itself, and not by a criminal lawyer. It seems to me
that [Raviv] is grabbing onto the proverbial 'horns of the altar' in a
desperate attempt to escape the wrath of judgement."

Arutz 7 News, April 16, 1999

RUBENSTEIN CITED FOR RAVIV HEARING

The Attorney-General and the State Prosecutor held a special hearing for
Avishai Raviv today, giving him a last chance to avoid being indicted.
Raviv was represented by his attorney, Eyal Shomroni-Hacohen. A rough
draft of the indictment, which charges the GSS agent-provocateur with not
preventing the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, has already
been prepared. Atty. Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, who has been involved in
various aspects of the case, criticized the holding of the hearing today,
asking, "Why is Raviv given so many extra-legal chances to avoid
prosecution? Why is State Prosecutor Arbel [who has been accused of having
a conflict of interest in the case] permitted to participate? Is this how
Rubenstein implements his motto, 'The rule of law is supreme'?"

IMW is a registered non-profit organization whose major aim is assuring the ethical and fair conduct of the Israeli media.