6 Shin Bet Officials Warned by Rabin Assassination Panel : Israel: Report may harm them, they’re told. Peres expresses support to security agency’s chief.

The head of Israel’s secret service and five other officials of Shin Bet were warned Monday by the commission investigating Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination that the panel’s findings could harm them.

The letters of warning issued by the Shamgar Commission were seen as a serious blow to Shin Bet’s already badly damaged reputation as a crack internal security force.

The organization is responsible for preventing terrorist attacks and for guarding Israeli officials and diplomats here and abroad. It operates secretively, with no public oversight, and has always had broad license to act, particularly against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The head of Shin Bet reports directly to Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who said Monday that he will neither suspend the head of Shin Bet, referred to only as “K” because of military censorship, nor ask him to resign.

“We’re a country that respects the law,” Peres told reporters. “There is an investigating committee. Whatever they will say I shall respect. I don’t have any additions, and I don’t have any changes.” Peres later telephoned the Shin Bet head to express his support, Israel Radio reported.

Since the assassination, Peres has repeatedly warned that harsh criticism of Shin Bet for its failure to take seriously the threats by right-wing Jews against government officials is damaging the organization’s esprit de corps and deterrent abilities. Shin Bet has always been regarded by Israelis and their governments as a vital part of the nation’s defenses against terrorism.

“K” has headed Shin Bet for nine months. He offered to resign a few days after Rabin was gunned down Nov. 4 by Yigal Amir, a right-wing Jew who said he killed Rabin to stop Israel from withdrawing its troops from the West Bank. Peres refused to accept “K’s” resignation at the time, saying he had full confidence in his leadership of the secret service.

The Justice Ministry said Monday that the three-member Shamgar Commission, appointed by the Cabinet on Nov. 10 to investigate the security failure that led to Rabin’s death, also issued a letter of warning to an assistant police commander responsible for security at the peace rally where Rabin was killed.

The police and Shin Bet have been trading accusations since the assassination, with each charging that the other failed to carry out its security responsibilities at the mass rally.

Also warned by the commission Monday was the head of Jewish affairs for Shin Bet, who is responsible for monitoring right-wing Jewish organizations; the chief of the security branch; the head of VIP security; the head of operations for VIP security, and the head of the unit guarding Rabin the night of the rally.

Just days after the assassination, Shin Bet conducted its own investigation into the security failure and concluded that there had been grave lapses the night of the rally. Amir was allowed to loiter in a VIP parking lot that was supposed to have been cleared of anyone without a security pass, and Rabin’s bodyguards left the prime minister’s back exposed as he walked to his car.

In the wake of Shin Bet’s internal investigation, the chief of the security branch resigned, and the head of VIP security was suspended. The head of Rabin’s bodyguard unit was transferred.

The letters of warning imply that the officers warned are at least indirectly responsible for Rabin’s death, legal analyst Moshe Negbi said. The letters put the officers on notice that they should retain attorneys.

Israelis tonight will see for the first time part of a videotape of the assassination that an amateur photographer shot. Second Channel and the mass-circulation Hebrew newspaper Yediot Aharonot reportedly won a bidding war among news organizations by paying Gershon Shalvinski, a 37-year-old immigrant from Poland, $390,000 for the video.

Shalvinski reportedly filmed more than an hour of the rally from a rooftop. During the eight-minute portion of the tape to be shown, he focused on Amir, who reportedly is shown standing behind a potted plant near the stairs that Rabin descended when he left the rally’s stage to walk to his car.