Instead, French computer security specialists are worried about violence and pornography on the Internet, macro-viruses, economic warfare, attacks against automatic switchboards, and changing the date from 1999 to 2000. Mr. Vanunu claims this is the real reason Israel is determined he serve his full sentence. Mr. Vanunu's petition was rejected by three judges who ruled it impossible to order an investigation into the affair because Mr. Vanunu has submitted no evidence to support his theory regarding the female agent. Following the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by religious fanatic Yigal Amir, Shin Bet continues to get bad press for not pursuing leads indicating that Amir received the backing of one or several rabbis. Besides Amir himself, his brother, Haggai Amir, and a close friend, Margalit Har-Shefi, have both admitted that at least one rabbi gave his approval for the assassination.
Specialists believe orders to avoid pushing further came from above.
More recently this year, corruption in Shin Bet, first made official by the 1987 commission of Chief Justice Moshe Landau, resurfaced with the resignation for embezzlement of the Shin Bet chief of the Samaria district and three of his associates. But at the highest political level it was finally decided to cancel the trip because it wasn't to Israel's political advantage. Essentially, Col. Amidror believes Pres. Arafat prefers to attempt an understanding with Hamas instead of fighting it, has shown little determination in combating terrorism and doesn't think he's obliged to help Israel fight terrorism. The difficult question is knowing if these are Col. Amidror's views or those of Aman.