Kav 300 affair
Encyclopedia
The Bus 300 affair also known as Kav 300 affair, was an affair in which Shin Bet members executed two Palestinian bus hijackers, immediately after the hostage crises incident ended and the two militants were captured.
After the incident the Shin Bet members gave a false testimony on their involvement in the affair. The Israeli military censor blacked out coverage of the hijacking originally, nevertheless, the publication of information regarding the affair in foreign press, and eventually in the Israeli media, led a public uproar which led many in the Israeli public to demand that the circumstances surrounding the deaths of militants would be investigated. In 1985 a senior Israeli army general Yitzhak Mordechai
was acquitted of charges related to the deaths of the captured militants. Later, it emerged that members of the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, had implicated the general, while concealing who gave the direct order that the prisoners be killed. In 1986 the Attorney General of Israel
, Yitzhak Zamir
, was forced to resign after he refused to call off an investigation into the Shin Bet's role in the affair. Shortly afterwards Avraham Shalom
, head of the Shin Bet resigned and was given a full Presidential pardon for unspecified crimes, while pardons were granted to many involved before charges were laid. Following the scandal, the Landau Commission
was set up to investigate Shin Bet procedures.
reached Ashdod where they boarded, as paying passengers, an Egged Bus
No. 300 en route from Tel Aviv
to Ashkelon
with 41 passengers. The militants hijacked it shortly after it left the station at 7:30 pm. During the takeover one of bus passengers was severely injured. The militant squad stated that they were armed with knives and a suitcase containing two anti-tank rounds which they threatened to explode (It later turned out that the suitcase was actually empty). The militants forced the bus to change it's direction and drive towards the Egyptian border.
Shortly after the bus was hijacked, the militants released a hysterical pregnant woman off the bus south of Ashdod. She hitchhiked to a gas station and from there alerted the authorities of the hijacking. As a result, Israeli military forces began chasing the bus.
The bus, moving at 120 km/h, smashed through two primitive road blocks until Israeli soldiers fired at the bus tires and successfully managed to disable the bus near the Palestinian refugee camp Deir el-Balah
located in the Gaza Strip
, only 10 miles north of the Egyptian border. When the bus stopped some of the passengers managed to escape the bus through an open door.
In the ensuing stand-off members of the Israeli media began to gather at the scene. Also present were senior military officers and politicians. These included Chief of Staff Moshe Levi
, Minister of Defence Moshe Arens
, and the Director of the Israeli domestic intelligence service Shin Bet, Avraham Shalom
.
The hijackers, whom were holding the bus passengers hostage, demanded the release of 500 Palestinian militants imprisoned in Israel and free passage to Egypt for themselves. The hijackers stated that they would not hesitate to blow up their explosive laden suitcase and kill all the passengers on the bus.
under the command of brigadier-general Yitzhak Mordechai
stormed the bus while shooting at the hijackers through the vehicle's windows. During this takeover operation the soldiers were able to eliminate two of the militants, capture the two additional militants, and release all hostages except for one passenger – a 19-year-old female soldier named Irit Portuguese whom was killed by the IDF forces fire during the takeover operation. Seven passengers were wounded during the course of the operation.
, and the Shin Bet chief of operations Ehud Yatom
, approached the bound militants. Before he left the site Shalom ordered Yatom to execute the two militants.
As a result, Yatom and And several members of the Shin Bet took the militants into a vehicle, drove them to an isolated place where the two were executed.
The Israeli military censor blacked out coverage of the hijacking originally. As a result, initial reports published in Israel and worldwide claimed that all militants were killed during the takeover. Nevertheless, three days later the Israeli daily newspaper Hadashot
quoted a report from The New York Times
, thus bypassing the Israeli military censor, which stated that two of the militants were captured alive. A few days later the Hadashot newspaper published on its front page a photograph taken by Alex Libak, in which one of the militants was being held alive and fully conscious while taken off the bus. The publication of the photograph caused a public uproar and as a result many in the Israeli public demanded that the circumstances surrounding the deaths of militants would be investigated.
of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
, claimed that his organisation was responsible for the attack. He said the hijackers demanded the release of 30 prisoners held at Nafha prison in Israel. Israeli sources dismissed these claims accusing Fatah
of being responsible.
At 8:00 am, the morning after the hijacking, IDF forces began blowing up the houses of the families of the four hijackers.
had a photograph, taken by Alex Levac
, of one of the hijackers being led away in handcuffs. Their journalists had positively identified the man in the picture as Majdi Abu Jummaa, aged 18, one of the four dead. The story was re-published around the world.
The story was broken in Israel on Sunday 22 April by Al HaMishmar of the Mapam
party. In a lead story passed by the censor they quoted "authorized senior sources" as saying that there was no alternative to the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the deaths of the two hijackers.
On 24 April David Shipler was summoned to the office of the director of the Government press office, Mordechai Dolinsky, and was "severely reprimanded." It was believed that his Israeli press credentials were not revoked only because he was leaving his post shortly anyway.
On 25 April the weekly HaOlam HaZeh
(This World), which had appeared with blank spaces the week before, published on its front page a blurred picture of a man being led away. The editor of the magazine, Uri Avery, had overcome the censors opposition after threatening to take the case to the High Court. Yossi Klein, editor of Hadashot, confirmed to correspondents that the man in the picture was not Majdi Abu Jammaa.
On 27 April Hadeshot was ordered to stop publishing for four days. This punishment, which had not been applied to a Jewish publication for over fifteen years, was due to their reporting that Minister of Defence Arens had set up a committee of enquiry, headed by Reserve General Meir Zorea
. This information had been released to the Editors Committee
of Israel's major newspapers on condition that the information was not published. Hadeshot, owned by the publishers of the respected Ha'aretz newspaper, was not a member of the Editors Committee.
Zorea's report was delivered in secret to the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Security Committee
on 29 May. Its findings were not made public but were said to have "stunned the security establishment." At the same time Hadashot refuted Moshe Arens statement that he had not been at the scene of the hijacking by claiming that their photographer had been standing beside him shortly before he took the picture of Majdi Abu Jammaa. Concerns were also being raised about a television interview that Arens had given shortly after the event when he said: "Whoever plans terrorist acts in Israel must know that he will not get out alive." The IDF Chief of Staff, Raphael Eitan, had made a similar statement: "Terrorists must know that they will not come out alive from such an operation."
, who had led the storming of the bus, and eleven others were put on trial for the killing of the two prisoners. They were accused of being amongst a larger group who beat and kicked the prisoners to death. Witnesses described the General hitting the prisoners with a pistol. He was cleared of the charges, and the charges against the others dropped. In the spring of 1986 the deputy chief of Shin Bet, Reuven Hazak and two officials Rafi Malka and Peleg Raday, met Prime Minister Shimon Peres
and accused their superior, Avraham Shalom
, of having ordered the murders and coordinating the testimonies of witnesses in the case against General Mordechai. Peres refused to act on this information and the three officials were dismissed from the Shin Bet. They then gave evidence that led Attorney General
Yitzhak Zamir
to launch a criminal probe against the senior Shin Bet officials accused of covering up the killings. On hearing the evidence, Zamir opened a police investigation into Shin Bet actions and in particular the role of its Director. In May 1986 he was forced to resign amidst accusations of disregarding national security after refusing to end his investigations. Zamir's resignation was reported in the international media and Israeli newspapers were able to bypass the Military Censor
with revelations about the Shin Bet. It became public that Avraham Shalom was accused of ordering the killing of the two prisoners and organising an extensive cover-up which included implicating General Mordechai.
In June 1986 a little known judge, Yosef Harish
, took over as Attorney General and President Chaim Herzog
issued a blanket pardon to Shalom and four other Shin Bet officers. These pardons were challenged in the Supreme Court
. During the appeal papers were revealed in which Shalom asserted that all his actions were "authorised and approved." This implicated the Prime Minister at the time of the killings - Yitzhak Shamir
.
On 6 August 1986 the Supreme Court upheld the pardons, but Attorney General Harish promised there would be an investigation.
after it became evident that the censors had contributed to the cover-up of the affair.
As part of the overall investigation of Shin Bet during the affair it was discovered that the organization routinely used physical force during interrogations which led to the establishment of the Landau Commission
to investigate organization's interrogation and other procedures.
According to Gideon Levi, the people who exposed the scandal were never honoured, and those who covered up the incident went on to prestigious careers.
gave an interview to the daily Yediot Aharonot in which he is quoted as saying: "I smashed their skulls," on orders from Shin Bet head Avraham Shalom, and "I'm proud of everything I've done." Yatom said he put the men on stretchers into a van. "On the way I received an order from Avraham Shalom to kill the men, so I killed them." "Only clean, moral hands in Shin Bet can do what is needed in a democratic state." From 2003 to 2006 Yatom was a Member of the Knesset.
directed the Kav 300 mini series which was shown in 1997 on Israeli television. The series focused on the "jurisdicial struggle between the Israeli Attorney General and the Shabak head following the murder of two terrorists in captivity by the Shabak". In 2011 Gidi Weitz directed "Alef Techasel Otam", a documentary movie about the affair which aired to strong review and much public interest on Channel 10.
After the incident the Shin Bet members gave a false testimony on their involvement in the affair. The Israeli military censor blacked out coverage of the hijacking originally, nevertheless, the publication of information regarding the affair in foreign press, and eventually in the Israeli media, led a public uproar which led many in the Israeli public to demand that the circumstances surrounding the deaths of militants would be investigated. In 1985 a senior Israeli army general Yitzhak Mordechai
Yitzhak Mordechai
Yitzhak Mordechai is an Israeli former general and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1996 and 2001, and as Minister of Defense and Minister of Transport. He retired from political life after being indicted for sexual assaults during his military service and later...
was acquitted of charges related to the deaths of the captured militants. Later, it emerged that members of the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, had implicated the general, while concealing who gave the direct order that the prisoners be killed. In 1986 the Attorney General of Israel
Attorney General of Israel
The Attorney General of Israel stands at the head of the legal system of the executive branch and the head of the public legal establishment, in charge of protecting the rule of law and as such entrusted with protecting the public interest from possible harm by government authorities...
, Yitzhak Zamir
Yitzhak Zamir
Yitzhak Zamir is a professor of public law and Dean of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Law, a former Attorney General of Israel, first Dean of the University of Haifa's Law Faculty, and Judge in the Israeli Supreme Court.-Biography:Zamir was born in Warsaw in Poland on April 15,...
, was forced to resign after he refused to call off an investigation into the Shin Bet's role in the affair. Shortly afterwards Avraham Shalom
Avraham Shalom
Avraham Shalom Ben-Dor was head of GSS from 1981-1986. He resigned after being accused of ordering the killing of two Palestinian prisoners and organising the subsequent cover-up.-Early career:...
, head of the Shin Bet resigned and was given a full Presidential pardon for unspecified crimes, while pardons were granted to many involved before charges were laid. Following the scandal, the Landau Commission
Landau Commission
The Landau Commission was a three-man Commission set up by the Israeli Government in 1987 following a long-running scandal over the deaths of two Palestinian prisoners in custody and the wrongful conviction of a Circassian IDF officer...
was set up to investigate Shin Bet procedures.
Egged bus 300 hostage crisis
On Thursday 12 April 1984, four armed Palestinian militants from the Gaza StripGaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
reached Ashdod where they boarded, as paying passengers, an Egged Bus
Egged Bus Cooperative
Egged Israel Transport Cooperative Society Ltd , a cooperative owned by its members is the largest transit bus company in Israel. It provides about 55 % of public transport services throughout the country, employs 6,227 workers and has 2,861 buses for more than 928 service routes and 3,103...
No. 300 en route from Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
to Ashkelon
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
with 41 passengers. The militants hijacked it shortly after it left the station at 7:30 pm. During the takeover one of bus passengers was severely injured. The militant squad stated that they were armed with knives and a suitcase containing two anti-tank rounds which they threatened to explode (It later turned out that the suitcase was actually empty). The militants forced the bus to change it's direction and drive towards the Egyptian border.
Shortly after the bus was hijacked, the militants released a hysterical pregnant woman off the bus south of Ashdod. She hitchhiked to a gas station and from there alerted the authorities of the hijacking. As a result, Israeli military forces began chasing the bus.
The bus, moving at 120 km/h, smashed through two primitive road blocks until Israeli soldiers fired at the bus tires and successfully managed to disable the bus near the Palestinian refugee camp Deir el-Balah
Deir el-Balah
Deir el-Balah or Dayr al-Balah is located in the central Gaza Strip and is the capital or muhfaza of the Deir el-Balah Governorate...
located in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, only 10 miles north of the Egyptian border. When the bus stopped some of the passengers managed to escape the bus through an open door.
In the ensuing stand-off members of the Israeli media began to gather at the scene. Also present were senior military officers and politicians. These included Chief of Staff Moshe Levi
Moshe Levi
Leiutanant General Moshe Levy was the 12th Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces . He served in this position from 1983–1987...
, Minister of Defence Moshe Arens
Moshe Arens
Moshe Arens is an Israeli aeronautical engineer, researcher and former diplomat and politician. A member of the Knesset between 1973 and 1992 and again from 1999 until 2003, he served as Minister of Defense three times and once as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Arens has also served as the Israeli...
, and the Director of the Israeli domestic intelligence service Shin Bet, Avraham Shalom
Avraham Shalom
Avraham Shalom Ben-Dor was head of GSS from 1981-1986. He resigned after being accused of ordering the killing of two Palestinian prisoners and organising the subsequent cover-up.-Early career:...
.
The hijackers, whom were holding the bus passengers hostage, demanded the release of 500 Palestinian militants imprisoned in Israel and free passage to Egypt for themselves. The hijackers stated that they would not hesitate to blow up their explosive laden suitcase and kill all the passengers on the bus.
Takeover operation
After lengthy negotiations, at around 7:00 am of April 13th, a special force of Sayeret MatkalSayeret Matkal
Sayeret Matkal is a special forces unit of the Israel Defence Forces , which is subordinated to the intelligence directorate Aman. First and foremost a field intelligence-gathering unit, conducting deep reconnaissance behind enemy lines to obtain strategic intelligence, Sayeret Matkal is also...
under the command of brigadier-general Yitzhak Mordechai
Yitzhak Mordechai
Yitzhak Mordechai is an Israeli former general and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1996 and 2001, and as Minister of Defense and Minister of Transport. He retired from political life after being indicted for sexual assaults during his military service and later...
stormed the bus while shooting at the hijackers through the vehicle's windows. During this takeover operation the soldiers were able to eliminate two of the militants, capture the two additional militants, and release all hostages except for one passenger – a 19-year-old female soldier named Irit Portuguese whom was killed by the IDF forces fire during the takeover operation. Seven passengers were wounded during the course of the operation.
Execution of two captured militants
The other two militants were captured alive, bound and taken to a nearby field, where they were beaten by people who had gathered around them. Shin Bet chief Avraham ShalomAvraham Shalom
Avraham Shalom Ben-Dor was head of GSS from 1981-1986. He resigned after being accused of ordering the killing of two Palestinian prisoners and organising the subsequent cover-up.-Early career:...
, and the Shin Bet chief of operations Ehud Yatom
Ehud Yatom
Ehud Yatom , Shin Bet agent and former Israeli politician who briefly served as a member of the Knesset for Likud from 2003 until 2006.-Biography:Born in Netanya, Yatom worked in the Shin Bet, and was one of the agents involved in the Kav 300 affair in 1984...
, approached the bound militants. Before he left the site Shalom ordered Yatom to execute the two militants.
As a result, Yatom and And several members of the Shin Bet took the militants into a vehicle, drove them to an isolated place where the two were executed.
The Israeli military censor blacked out coverage of the hijacking originally. As a result, initial reports published in Israel and worldwide claimed that all militants were killed during the takeover. Nevertheless, three days later the Israeli daily newspaper Hadashot
Hadashot
Hadashot was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Israel between 1984 and 1993.-History:On 4 March 1984 Haaretz Group CEO Amos Schocken announced that a new daily newspaper, Hadashot was to be launched, with Yossi Klein as editor...
quoted a report from The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, thus bypassing the Israeli military censor, which stated that two of the militants were captured alive. A few days later the Hadashot newspaper published on its front page a photograph taken by Alex Libak, in which one of the militants was being held alive and fully conscious while taken off the bus. The publication of the photograph caused a public uproar and as a result many in the Israeli public demanded that the circumstances surrounding the deaths of militants would be investigated.
Claim of responsibility
In Damascus, Bassam Abu SharifBassam Abu Sharif
Bassam Abu Sharif is a former senior adviser to the late Yasser Arafat and press officer of the Palestine Liberation Organization ....
of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
, claimed that his organisation was responsible for the attack. He said the hijackers demanded the release of 30 prisoners held at Nafha prison in Israel. Israeli sources dismissed these claims accusing Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
of being responsible.
Subsequent related events
Moshe Arens, who sanctioned the operation, argued after the event that, despite casualties amongst the passengers, the operation was "absolutely necessary." He said: "It was a long and difficult night and we followed the policy that has been traditionally laid down by Israel that we do not give in to terrorist demands."At 8:00 am, the morning after the hijacking, IDF forces began blowing up the houses of the families of the four hijackers.
The first inquiry
Just over a week after the hijacking David Shipler, New York Times correspondent in Israel, filed a report revealing that the daily newspaper HadashotHadashot
Hadashot was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Israel between 1984 and 1993.-History:On 4 March 1984 Haaretz Group CEO Amos Schocken announced that a new daily newspaper, Hadashot was to be launched, with Yossi Klein as editor...
had a photograph, taken by Alex Levac
Alex Levac
Alex Levac is an Israeli photojournalist and street photographer. He won the Israel Prize for photography in 2005.-Biography:Alex Levac was born in Tel Aviv in 1944...
, of one of the hijackers being led away in handcuffs. Their journalists had positively identified the man in the picture as Majdi Abu Jummaa, aged 18, one of the four dead. The story was re-published around the world.
The story was broken in Israel on Sunday 22 April by Al HaMishmar of the Mapam
Mapam
Mapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented...
party. In a lead story passed by the censor they quoted "authorized senior sources" as saying that there was no alternative to the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the deaths of the two hijackers.
On 24 April David Shipler was summoned to the office of the director of the Government press office, Mordechai Dolinsky, and was "severely reprimanded." It was believed that his Israeli press credentials were not revoked only because he was leaving his post shortly anyway.
On 25 April the weekly HaOlam HaZeh
Haolam Hazeh
HaOlam HaZeh was a weekly news magazine published in Israel until 1993.The magazine was founded in 1937 under the name Tesha BaErev but was renamed HaOlam HaZeh in 1946...
(This World), which had appeared with blank spaces the week before, published on its front page a blurred picture of a man being led away. The editor of the magazine, Uri Avery, had overcome the censors opposition after threatening to take the case to the High Court. Yossi Klein, editor of Hadashot, confirmed to correspondents that the man in the picture was not Majdi Abu Jammaa.
On 27 April Hadeshot was ordered to stop publishing for four days. This punishment, which had not been applied to a Jewish publication for over fifteen years, was due to their reporting that Minister of Defence Arens had set up a committee of enquiry, headed by Reserve General Meir Zorea
Meir Zorea
Meir "Zarro" Zorea MC was a general in the Israel Defense Forces and later a member of the Knesset. He earned distinction through his combat actions in World War II and in the Israeli War of Independence...
. This information had been released to the Editors Committee
Editors Committee (Israel)
The Editors Committee is an informal forum comprised by the editors and owners of the main Israeli media. It meets regularly with the prime minister, cabinet members and senior officials. Until the 1980s, it took a central role in the self-censorship practiced by the Israeli media outlets...
of Israel's major newspapers on condition that the information was not published. Hadeshot, owned by the publishers of the respected Ha'aretz newspaper, was not a member of the Editors Committee.
Zorea's report was delivered in secret to the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Security Committee
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is a permanent Knesset committee which oversees key Foreign and Defense areas, including the drafting of legislation, supervision over related government ministries and the approval of their budgests...
on 29 May. Its findings were not made public but were said to have "stunned the security establishment." At the same time Hadashot refuted Moshe Arens statement that he had not been at the scene of the hijacking by claiming that their photographer had been standing beside him shortly before he took the picture of Majdi Abu Jammaa. Concerns were also being raised about a television interview that Arens had given shortly after the event when he said: "Whoever plans terrorist acts in Israel must know that he will not get out alive." The IDF Chief of Staff, Raphael Eitan, had made a similar statement: "Terrorists must know that they will not come out alive from such an operation."
The trial
In 1985, Brigadier General Yitzhak MordechaiYitzhak Mordechai
Yitzhak Mordechai is an Israeli former general and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1996 and 2001, and as Minister of Defense and Minister of Transport. He retired from political life after being indicted for sexual assaults during his military service and later...
, who had led the storming of the bus, and eleven others were put on trial for the killing of the two prisoners. They were accused of being amongst a larger group who beat and kicked the prisoners to death. Witnesses described the General hitting the prisoners with a pistol. He was cleared of the charges, and the charges against the others dropped. In the spring of 1986 the deputy chief of Shin Bet, Reuven Hazak and two officials Rafi Malka and Peleg Raday, met Prime Minister Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
and accused their superior, Avraham Shalom
Avraham Shalom
Avraham Shalom Ben-Dor was head of GSS from 1981-1986. He resigned after being accused of ordering the killing of two Palestinian prisoners and organising the subsequent cover-up.-Early career:...
, of having ordered the murders and coordinating the testimonies of witnesses in the case against General Mordechai. Peres refused to act on this information and the three officials were dismissed from the Shin Bet. They then gave evidence that led Attorney General
Attorney General of Israel
The Attorney General of Israel stands at the head of the legal system of the executive branch and the head of the public legal establishment, in charge of protecting the rule of law and as such entrusted with protecting the public interest from possible harm by government authorities...
Yitzhak Zamir
Yitzhak Zamir
Yitzhak Zamir is a professor of public law and Dean of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Law, a former Attorney General of Israel, first Dean of the University of Haifa's Law Faculty, and Judge in the Israeli Supreme Court.-Biography:Zamir was born in Warsaw in Poland on April 15,...
to launch a criminal probe against the senior Shin Bet officials accused of covering up the killings. On hearing the evidence, Zamir opened a police investigation into Shin Bet actions and in particular the role of its Director. In May 1986 he was forced to resign amidst accusations of disregarding national security after refusing to end his investigations. Zamir's resignation was reported in the international media and Israeli newspapers were able to bypass the Military Censor
Israeli Military Censor
The Israeli Military Censor is a unit in the IDF Directorate of Military Intelligence which watches over the publication of information regarding the military network, and generally, the security of Israel. The Military Censor, as part of its duty, has authority to suppress information it deems...
with revelations about the Shin Bet. It became public that Avraham Shalom was accused of ordering the killing of the two prisoners and organising an extensive cover-up which included implicating General Mordechai.
In June 1986 a little known judge, Yosef Harish
Yosef Harish
Yosef Harish was an Israeli jurist who served as the country's Attorney General between 1986 and 1993.-Biography:Born in Jerusalem in 1923, Harish was educated in a yeshiva...
, took over as Attorney General and President Chaim Herzog
Chaim Herzog
Chaim Herzog served as the sixth President of Israel , following a distinguished career in both the British Army and the Israel Defense Forces .-Early life:...
issued a blanket pardon to Shalom and four other Shin Bet officers. These pardons were challenged in the Supreme Court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
. During the appeal papers were revealed in which Shalom asserted that all his actions were "authorised and approved." This implicated the Prime Minister at the time of the killings - Yitzhak Shamir
Yitzhak Shamir
' is a former Israeli politician, the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, in 1983–84 and 1986–92.-Biography:Icchak Jeziernicky was born in Ruzhany , Russian Empire . He studied at a Hebrew High School in Białystok, Poland. As a youth he joined Betar, the Revisionist Zionist youth movement...
.
On 6 August 1986 the Supreme Court upheld the pardons, but Attorney General Harish promised there would be an investigation.
Effects of the affair
The affair had significantly damaged the Shin Bet's reputation and public image in Israel. It also led to a re-examination of censorship in IsraelCensorship in Israel
Laws on censorship in Israel are based on British emergency regulations from 1945 that apply to domestic media, foreign newspapers and wire service transmissions from or through Israel....
after it became evident that the censors had contributed to the cover-up of the affair.
As part of the overall investigation of Shin Bet during the affair it was discovered that the organization routinely used physical force during interrogations which led to the establishment of the Landau Commission
Landau Commission
The Landau Commission was a three-man Commission set up by the Israeli Government in 1987 following a long-running scandal over the deaths of two Palestinian prisoners in custody and the wrongful conviction of a Circassian IDF officer...
to investigate organization's interrogation and other procedures.
According to Gideon Levi, the people who exposed the scandal were never honoured, and those who covered up the incident went on to prestigious careers.
Ehud Yatom
In 1996 retiring Shin Bet officer Ehud YatomEhud Yatom
Ehud Yatom , Shin Bet agent and former Israeli politician who briefly served as a member of the Knesset for Likud from 2003 until 2006.-Biography:Born in Netanya, Yatom worked in the Shin Bet, and was one of the agents involved in the Kav 300 affair in 1984...
gave an interview to the daily Yediot Aharonot in which he is quoted as saying: "I smashed their skulls," on orders from Shin Bet head Avraham Shalom, and "I'm proud of everything I've done." Yatom said he put the men on stretchers into a van. "On the way I received an order from Avraham Shalom to kill the men, so I killed them." "Only clean, moral hands in Shin Bet can do what is needed in a democratic state." From 2003 to 2006 Yatom was a Member of the Knesset.
Popular culture
Uri BarbashUri Barbash
Uri Barbash is an Israeli film director. His film co-wrote with Eran Preis, Beyond the Walls was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...
directed the Kav 300 mini series which was shown in 1997 on Israeli television. The series focused on the "jurisdicial struggle between the Israeli Attorney General and the Shabak head following the murder of two terrorists in captivity by the Shabak". In 2011 Gidi Weitz directed "Alef Techasel Otam", a documentary movie about the affair which aired to strong review and much public interest on Channel 10.