Israel Adding Fuel to the Fire

By Pico Iyer.

The controversy became public last May with charges that Avraham Shalom, director of Shin Bet, Israel's general security service, had ordered the killing of two Palestinian terrorists captured after hijacking an Israeli bus. In the furor that followed, highlighted by charges of a cover-up and demands for an investigation in early June, Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir was eased out. The dispute intensified later in the month when President Chaim Herzog pardoned Shalom, who immediately resigned, and three other senior Shin Bet operatives. The pardon provoked charges that the government was trying to bury the troublesome issue. Last week, in a development that could set off as much unrest as it stills, a three-member panel of the Supreme Court upheld Herzog's pardon by a vote of 2 to 1.

The ruling was a triumph for the government, which is intent on safeguarding Shin Bet secrecy and, its critics claim, on protecting itself from the embarrassment of an investigation. The decision will probably be reviewed by a five-member panel of the court, but it effectively postponed a police probe of the killings. Most important, it enhanced the likelihood that Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir will, as planned, take over the coalition government from Prime Minister Shimon Peres in October. That move, dictated by a power-sharing agreement between Peres and Shamir would have been endangered by any formal investigation of Shamir, who, press reports suggested, had knowledge of the cover-up.

The principal issue addressed by the Supreme Court in its 160-page decision was whether Herzog had the right to pardon people who had not been formally indicted. The President had incensed legal scholars and some members of parliament by defending the pardon as a necessary measure to protect Shin Bet's covert operations. Though the panel supported Herzog, dissenting Judge Aharon Barak argued that granting clemency could be interpreted as a "blatant intervention in the work of the responsible authorities" and ultimately, as a "danger to the democratic character of our state."

Even as the debate in Israel continued, the government claimed to have scored a judicial victory in Washington. Last month the U.S. Justice Department subpoenaed five members of an Israeli military purchasing mission in New York City. They were wanted for questioning about an alleged Israeli attempt to obtain American technology illegally for use in manufacturing cluster bombs. Jerusalem promptly protested the subpoenas and hinted that it might sue the U.S. for summoning Israelis with diplomatic status to testify in an American court. Last week the Justice Department dropped the subpoenas in exchange for an Israeli agreement to cooperate in the investigation of the case.

As it strengthened its ties with its closest ally, Israel also scored a modest breakthrough with a long-standing enemy: the Soviet Union. Ever since Moscow severed diplomatic relations with Jerusalem in 1967, the two countries have been on opposite sides of the complex Middle East chessboard. In recent years, however, Soviet officials have hinted that they would like to talk with the Israelis again. After months of elaborate negotiation, the two countries confirmed last week that their representatives will meet Aug. 18 and 19 in Helsinki. The first publicly acknowledged talks between the nations in 19 years will focus on minor diplomatic issues. Israel and the Soviet Union will then receive each other's delegations for visits that may last several months.

Though a restoration of official diplomatic ties is unlikely in the near future, the Soviets' public overture suggests that they are eager to remove barriers to their eventual participation in Middle East peace negotiations. Western experts speculated that Moscow may be seeking to polish up its image before a possible U.S.-Soviet summit later this year. For his part, Prime Minister Peres was wary of overplaying the significance of the talks. "We regard this," Peres said, "as the minute start of a change."

With reporting by Robert Slater/Jerusalem