Last update - 00:00 24/05/2007
Nonprofit group says police fabricated tape on Amona evacuations
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent
An independent inquiry into the forceful evacuation of the illegal settlement of Amona in the West Bank has turned into an ugly dispute between the police and the center conducting the investigation.
Dr. Yitzhak Klein of the Israel Policy Center, is accusing the police of providing fictitious evidence. The police, in turn, are accusing him of doctoring the evidence they gave him.
The dispute began after the Israel Policy Center requested that the police release video recordings of Judea and Samaria District Commander Maj.-Gen. Yisrael Yitzhak briefing police officers who had participated in the evacuation in February 2006. The probe was meant to determine whether the police had used excessive force in Amona.
"We found reason to doubt the authenticity of the briefing, and the time of filming," Klein said. He gave the video to a professional post-production studio, which concluded that the timestamp on the recording was March 5, 2006 - five weeks after Amona had been evacuated. In addition, several minutes of Yitzhak's speech were missing.
Following the report, Klein filed a complaint with the Justice Ministry's Police Investigation Department, accusing the police of "fabricating evidence."
A police spokesman explained to Haaretz that the police had never said the recording was raw footage. "Dr. Klein's claims are intended to slander," the spokesman said.
"Had the document been fabricated, there would have been witnesses saying Yitzhak delivered a different speech. There are none," the spokesman said. He also added that the police were considering taking legal action against Dr. Klein.