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JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli court has convicted Yigal Amir, the assassin of Yitzhak Rabin, of conspiring to kill the prime minister and of planning attacks on Palestinians.

Amir, 26, is already serving a life sentence for the murder of the prime minister.

The court also found Amir's brother, Hagai, and a friend, Dror Adani, guilty Wednesday of the charges of plotting to kill the premier and attack Palestinians.

A three-judge panel in the Tel Aviv District Court also found the three guilty on weapons charges and of conspiring to set up an illegal underground organization.

The three will be sentenced Oct. 3. Legal sources said they could each face more than 25 years in prison.

Peres kept unaware of Rabin Golan plan

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Only hours before Yitzhak Rabin's funeral did Shimon Peres learn of the slain premier's commitment to return the entire Golan Heights as part of a peace deal with Syria, according to a book on Peres being released this week.

The author, Orly Azulai-Katz, a political reporter for the Israeli daily Yediot Achronot, claims Rabin verbally committed Israel to withdraw from the Golan up to the pre-June 1967 border with Syria.

After the funeral, Peres found himself pressed by President Clinton to endorse Rabin's commitment and proceed with the Syrians toward its implementation, the book asserts.

Peres, who was Rabin's foreign minister, was angered at having been kept ignorant of Rabin's secret diplomacy, writes Azulai-Katz.

However, in a telephone interview from New York on Wednesday with an Israeli television program, Peres denied that he had been angered by Rabin having "concealed" the diplomacy with Syria from him.

Ambassador Itamar Rabinovich, who led the Israeli team in the Syria talks under Rabin and Peres, declined to confirm in an Israel Radio interview Wednesday that Rabin had signaled a readiness to withdraw, but he also refused to deny the book's account.

Half of Israeli men would quit reserves

TEL AVIV (JPS) — Half of Israeli men say they would not do reserve duty if they were not forced to, according to a survey by the Israeli army's behavioral science branch.

Four out of five Israeli men believe the country is not doing enough to divide the burden fairly among reservists, the survey showed.

Reserve duty, mandatory for able men ages 21-55, has long been considered the backbone of Israel's citizen army.

Sixty-three percent of those polled believe the public even encourages avoiding duty, and that there is no public support for those who do serve.

Several stories in the Israeli press recently have focused on new signs that young Israelis are not as motivated to serve in the army as in past generations.

Controversial singer retracts call to leave

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli pop singer Aviv Geffen has retracted a call for the nation's youth to leave the country and other published remarks.

In an interview with the youth magazine Ma'ariv LaNoar, the singer had called on young people to leave the Jewish state, triggering a storm of protest.

But at an awards ceremony Tuesday night, Geffen said he made the plea in the heat of the moment and that it should not be interpreted literally. He added that he had no intention of leaving Israel.

Geffen said he would not retract the statements that he made about his fear that the prospects for peace were fading, however.

"It's time to pack bags and escape from Israel. I am being serious," Gefen said in an interview, excerpts of which were published Tuesday in Ma'ariv.

"There is no democracy here. I am ashamed of this government and the prime minister and I am ashamed that an empty-headed and deficient person like [Benjamin] Netanyahu is my representative."

Palestinians admit getting Israeli money

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Palestinian Authority has acknowledged that its gas tax revenues are being refunded by Israel through an account in the Israeli Bank Leumi.

Upon the request of Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat in mid-1994, Israel has deposited close to $66 million in proceeds from Palestinian gas taxes over the last two years to a Tel Aviv Bank Leumi branch, with instructions that Arafat have discretionary use.

Officials say a signatory on the account is Khalid Salaam, otherwise known as Mohammed Rashid, who is Arafat's financial adviser. Last week, an authority spokesman denied to wire services that a Bank Leumi account existed.