Yitzhak Pas is led to the GSS interrogation room at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem. Two and a half years after a Palestinian sniper murdered his infant daughter at the entrance to their home in Hebron, Yitzhak was arrested together with his brother-in-law, Matityahu Shvo, with eight explosive bricks with a total weight of 4 kilograms in their possession.

The GSS begins an exhausting race around the clock, in an attempt to persuade the two to admit that they belong to a Jewish terror organization, as well as their plan to kill innocent Arabs.

Following are details of the investigation of Pas and Shvo, as well as the methods used by the interrogators to make them confess. No less than 16 different interrogators spoke with the two during their arrest, with some of them trying to create friendly ties with them, while others were playing “bad cop,” who reprimanded them and moralized to them. During the interrogation, Pas and Shvo were also moved between three different interrogation sites, in Jerusalem, Maaleh Adumim, and Ashkelon.

The sensitive report by the GSS was attached to the indictment against Yitzhak Pas, and is based on a summary of what was said in the interrogation rooms, as recorded in writing by the GSS interrogators during the questioning.

On Friday night, two days after his arrest, Yitzhak Pas adamantly refused to speak during his interrogation, arguing that anything he would say could be distorted and used as evidence against him. The GSS interrogator nonetheless continued to try to persuade Pas, who was angry about the desecration of the Sabbath because of the timing of the interrogation. This is how the interrogator described the course of the interrogation in the memo he wrote: “I answered him that I understand his resentment at the fact that he was being interrogated on the Sabbath. I said regarding the matter, that despite the fact that I am secular, the Sabbath is also a special day for my family, especially today as it was my son’s fourth birthday. I explained to him that we both found ourselves in a situation in which we were missing an important day.” But Pas, said the interrogator, continued to remain silent.

Each interrogation of Pas lasted between 5 and 14 hours. On that same Sabbath he was interrogated again, this time by another interrogator called “Gidon.” In contrast to his predecessor, Gidon was harsh towards Pas, and reprimanded him for his total lack of cooperation. But Pas continued as before, and refused even to look the interrogator in the eye. “I told him that good manners are more important than observing the Torah,” said Gidon later while describing the interrogation. “I explained to him that when someone greets you, you must respond politely. We are all Jews, belonging to the nation of Israel, and we have obligations to each other… I told him that his actions were irresponsible and originated from pure egotism and a lack of consideration of his family and his daughters. He knows that his actions and those of his friends will end in prison, and if he had any semblance of responsibility or commitment to his family, he would not be involved in such actions.

“I pointed out to him that the killing of Arabs at this point in time would be useless and not achieve anything, with the proof being in the road map and the fact that despite the sabotage the dialogue with the Palestinians is continuing.” “Gidon” ended the interrogation with this sentence: “I told him that only those who are motivated by ego and dark impulses go to kill Arab children in cold blood, and that he would never convince anyone otherwise. In response he smiled and looked at me scornfully.”

One of the controversial methods the interrogators used in order to convince Pas to talk, was to organize an unexpected meeting with one of the interrogators who had captured the Palestinian sniper who had murdered [his daughter] Shalhevet, following an intense and difficult intelligence effort.

The interrogator at the time, who was called “Guy,” later described the meeting in the report of the investigation: “I told him that an interrogator from the team who had questioned his daughter’s killer wanted to talk to him. I took him into the interrogation room, but he didn’t even open his eyes or respond to what was happening around him. I told him that he was belittling the people who had worked day and night in order to bring his daughter’s killer to justice. But he preferred not to pay any attention to him. I told him to at least be polite and look at him, but it all fell on deaf ears.” Later Pas said that he was going on a hunger strike, and would not say anything to anybody.

At a certain stage during the interrogation, the GSS people employed a method called the “prisoner’s dilemma,” in which the two detainees are separated, and the interrogators tell each one that the other one is beginning to break down and cooperate, and that whoever continues not to talk will be punished more severely, while the other one will go free. But in Pas’s case the ruse failed.

This is what the interrogator called “Ofer” wrote: “The accused (Pas) was taken to a nearby interrogation room, where he saw his brother-in-law Matityahu Shvo talking with the interrogator called “Aryeh” and heard the two conversing. The accused was asked how he explained the fact that his brother-in-law talked freely during the interrogation and responded: ‘I want to see a lawyer and I have nothing to add.'”

In the meantime Matityahu continued to talk, but in contrast to the impression the interrogators were trying to create with Pas, he also refused to say anything about the purpose of the confiscated brick bombs. “We talked generally about the lessons in Pirkei Avot, where it is written among other things that we are commanded to treat people with respect,” wrote the interrogator called “Nissim” later. “We read to him several verses from Proverbs, which contain great wisdom about caution, conforming, and integrity, while the accused chose to play with fire and deal with brick bombs. We told him not to complain about the bitterness of his fate, as stated in the verse concerning a man who walks on coals whose feet will burn. The accused did not respond. We told him that there is a way to prove his innocence and that he should undergo a polygraph test. The accused did not respond.”

At one of the most important moments of the interrogation, Shvo began to threaten the interrogators that they would be punished by God for their deeds. “The accused (Shvo) was asked why he was getting his brother-in-law Yitzhak Pas in trouble, and was not considering his special and delicate situation.

He responded that the GSS interrogators are the ones who will pay in the court in the heavens to God for the abuse of Shalhevet Pas’s father.”

The GSS tried using another measure in Shvo’s investigation, when they mentioned Zeev (Zambish) Hever, today leader of the settlement movement in the territories and a close associate of Ariel Sharon, and formerly jailed for membership in the Jewish underground in the early ’80s. This is how investigator “Amos” described it: “We told the suspect about the arrests of the underground and about Zambish’s interrogation, who at first denied the charges but later confessed and even asked to apologize to the interrogators for his behavior.” But this too didn’t help. Shvo didn’t react to the comparison, and the interrogators said he even declared, “Soon the wheel will turn and he (Shvo) will be the investigator and we will be the ones questioned.”

While Matityahu Shvo continued to taunt the investigators, Yitzhak Pas eventually decided to talk. This was on July 28, after 13 days of questioning. But even then Pas didn’t tell the investigators what they wanted to hear, and instead gave “Ofer” a short admission saying: “I admit that weapons were found in my car, this is a fact that can’t be denied, but there was no criminal intention here.”

Later on Pas claimed that many rogues use the name of his daughter, Shalhevet, for monetary gain. The investigator notes in the report, “The suspect related that there are people who exploit his personal tragedy, the murder of his daughter Shalhevet, by asking for his consent to set up non-profit organizations and associations named after his daughter, thus putting money into their private pockets.”

After the report of the investigation was exposed, Yitzhak Pas’s and Matityahu Shvo’s attorney, Naftali Hertzberger, claimed that extreme measures were used against them with no justification. He said, “The material shows that there was no justification for questioning them on the Sabbath, they are not ticking bombs and no lives were endangered. The notes show that they were questioned in the first two days for very long hours, continuing into the night. The material also shows that the two were not allowed to pray since they were not allowed to go to the synagogue and in their cells there were toilets, and according to halacha, it is forbidden to pray in a room with toilets.” On the other hand, it is notable that the report shows that the GSS interrogators allowed the men to pray a number of times in the interrogation room, in which there are no bathrooms.

The GSS commented yesterday: “All GSS investigations follow regulations and the law, and are monitored and supervised by all the relevant authorities. The investigation into the affair is not yet over and it is therefore impossible to relate to the details.”

This piece ran on August 14, 2003 in Maariv

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