Israeli Spy Probe Names Peres, Rabin

A parliamentary inquiry into Israel’s bungled spy operation in Washington laid most of the responsibility for the scandal today on Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a legislator said.

The Knesset deputy, a member of the intelligence committee that investigated the espionage affair, said the report also found that Likud Bloc Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Cabinet Minister Moshe Arens were at fault.

“Peres was first among equals,” the parliamentarian, who asked not to be identified, quoted from the report.

State television said the findings made no recommendations to take action against Israeli leaders--all of whom have said they were unaware that U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard had spied for Israel.

‘Harsh References’

Much of the criticism centered on the two Labor Party leaders because Peres was prime minister and Rabin defense chief for most of the time in 1984 and 1985 when Pollard, an American Jew, spied against his country, said the legislator.

The chairman of the committee, former Foreign Minister Abba Eban, has yet to announce its findings in detail.

“There are harsh references in this report . . . to all echelons,” said Ehud Olmert, a Likud Bloc deputy and a member of the seven-man panel.

“I do not rule out the possibility that some resignations will be in order, but that is not something that a Knesset committee can dictate,” Olmert said.

Earlier today, a second, government-appointed panel said the entire government must accept responsibility for the espionage operation but made no recommendations for action against any leaders.

‘Will Continue to Exist’

Joshua Rotenstreich, chairman of the two-member board, said it is up to Parliament or the public to decide whether anyone should be punished in the affair.

Shamir reacted to the Rotenstreich panel’s findings by saying tersely in a radio interview: “The national unity government will continue to exist.”

A senior Israeli official said the findings of the government-appointed panel were not harsh enough to harm government leaders.

The government investigation, which ran parallel to the parliamentary inquiry into the scandal that damaged relations between Israel and its main ally, was ordered by the Cabinet three months ago, after a Washington court sentenced Pollard to life in prison.

Hundreds of Documents

Pollard admitted passing hundreds of secret documents to Israel and said the United States had withheld vital intelligence information from the Jewish state.

Israeli leaders said the operation was carried out behind their backs by a now-disbanded Defense Ministry intelligence unit called LEKEM.

Quoting from the Rotenstreich report, the radio said Arens, defense minister at the time Pollard was recruited, and Rabin, the current defense chief, had been kept in the dark by LEKEM about the operation.