The herut movement and the kasztner trial

As a result of accusing Israel Rezsö Kasztner of collaborating with the Nazis during the German occupation of Hungary, Malkiei Gruenwald was prosecuted for libel by the Israeli attorney general in 1954. Popularly referred to as the "Kasztner Trial," the protracted four-year case became the most important political trial of that decade in Israel, and had a great impact on the Israeli political scene. This article traces the position of the Herut Movement on the case during its various stages: the trial in 1954; the verdict which was damaging to Kasztner, one month before the June 1955 Knesset elections; Kasztner's assassination in 1957; and the January 1958 Supreme Court ruling which overturned the lower court's decision.