Yitzhak Arad - Suspected of War Crimes

Suspected of War Crimes

In June 2007, Lithuania asked Israel to question Arad on suspicions of war crimes. The chief prosecutor of Lithuania suspected that Arad had served in the NKVD and had been involved in executions of Lithuanian civilians and members of the anti-Soviet resistance movement in 1943-1944. Israel refused the request, and called it "nothing short of outrageous". Arad denied involvement, claiming that the allegations are a vendetta for his having painstakingly listed atrocities committed by Lithuanian collaborators. Nevertheless, Lithuanian prosecutor Rimvydas Valentukevicius told AFP, based on materials made available by the Lithuanian Genocide and Resistance Research Center: "We have many documents, which allow us to think that Arad participated in criminal activities." It should be noted, however, that at that time Arad was 18 years old and, as soon the war ended, emigrated to Palestine. The General Prosecutors office dropped the criminal investigation regarding partisan activities of Arad in September 2008 citing lack of collected evidence as the main cause.