Despite admissions by those present that the ceremony was not "authentic," that it "was staged," and that the video contained "inauthentic portions," no charge sheet was ever drawn up. Why? The answer lies in the fear of the three General Security Service (GSS) agents present: they were in attendance to protect themselves from the possibility that in a court case Avishai Raviv, their agent provocateur, might have to take the witness stand. In the transcript the GSS officers admit that after the ceremony they "established new rules of operation ...and that he [Raviv] would undergo psychological examinations." But in that case, are we to suppose that the GSS was running a potential psycho?

In the meeting, as the transcript shows, the GSS

The Shin Bet tried to delegitimize the nationalist and religious opposition to the Oslo process.

This line of thinking could be called the "Kastner Syndrome." In the early 1950s, attorney Shmuel Tamir managed to turn the tables on a libel suit broughtagainst Malkiel Greenwald who claimed Rudolf Kastner, a leading Mapai official, collaborated with the Nazis. Fearful the tables could be turned on them in a trial, the current GSS and the State Prosecutor's office apparently sought to avoid this at all costs, including the cost of corruption of the judicial process.

The outcome of the meeting was to close the file against Oren. However, Israel's Media Watch, which had brought the complaint, was not informed of this decision for three years -- it was finally informed in May 1999. Based on the contents of the belatedly declassified transcript, Israel Media Watch has petitioned the Supreme Court to order the state prosecution to press charges. The hearing is scheduled for January 6, 2000.

Whatever the outcome, the transcript illustrates that the running of Raviv was a failure and a criminal one at that, revealing gross negligence by the head of the GSS and others. Worse still, the recorded deliberations show a crass callousness towards fundamental individual civil rights. The Shabak must be protected at all costs. Yet more bizarre, it has just been learned that three of the (unwitting) participants in that 1995 staged ceremony are to stand trial! Their indictment, signed by Liora Chavilio, who was in attendance at the May 1996 meeting, claims they expressed support for a terrorist organization -- Eyal. We are thus left with the following inescapable conclusion: if Eyal was a terror group, and its head, Avishai Raviv, received money and support to keep it running from his handlers at the General Security Service, we can only come to the incredible conclusion that the GSS was engaged in operating a group that incited young people to commit acts of terror.

Now we can tie up all the loose ends. The true conspiracy was the campaign of the General Security Services to delegitimize the nationalist and religious opposition to the Oslo process. They permitted Raviv to run wild and the media cooperated by taking him from the fringes and placing him up-front and center on the TV screen. For the ideologically left-wing media, Raviv fit exactly their image of the Right: fanatic, violent and fascist. All were happy. But justice was not done. Democracy was not served. The rule of law was subverted.

Israel Media Watch's endeavor to keep this case open continues. We cannot afford to turn our backs when the issues are so fundamental to a democratic society.

Yisrael Medad is director of Israel Media Watch

Outpost               - 8 -               December 1999