Israel’s Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein will consider opening a criminal investigation into an advertisement published last Friday that urged anyone who had the opportunity to murder Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, said Haaretz newspaper.
The advertisement, published in the Makor Rishon newspaper by the right-wing Zo Artzeinu group, was signed by Zo Artzeinu leader Moshe Feiglin and three movement colleagues.
Legal officials said they doubted indictments could actually be submitted against either the Zo Artzeinu members or Makor Rishon's editors.
Since a tougher anti-incitement law was recently defeated in the Knesset, the sources said, prosecutors lack the legal tools they need to indict the sponsors of the anti-Arafat message.
But MK Ran Cohen from Meretz Party urged Rubinstein on Sunday to charge both the Zo Artzeinu members and Makor Rishon's editors.
Rubinstein also ordered the Israeli army, the police and the Shin Bet security service to take firm, uncompromising action against “extremist Jewish settlers who harm innocent Arab civilians.”
Meanwhile, Rubinstein reportedly convened a secret meeting last week with top security officials to consider ways of clamping down on vigilante actions that harm Palestinian civilians, including women and children, said the paper. Officials at this meeting considered various legal steps against extremists, particularly in the Hebron area, such as banning their entry to tense flashpoints on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
So far, however, no decision has been reached regarding the imposition of such restraining orders on Jewish militants – Albawaba.com
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