Hayut says judges working ‘fearlessly’ after Likud urged her to decry ex-prosecutor
After former state attorney Moshe Lador slammed leaked remarks by Netanyahu judges about weakness of bribery charge, coalition whip called on Supreme Court chief to defend them
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party called Sunday on Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut to condemn former state prosecutor Moshe Lador after he voiced sharp public criticism of the judges in the premier’s trial.
Speaking Saturday at a cultural event, Lador said the judges made an “unprecedented error” by convening attorneys in the Netanyahu case privately and telling the prosecution that its bribery charge was unlikely to stand up. Lador called the move, which was swiftly leaked and confirmed last week by the justices, a “hit job.”
Despite the judges’ remarks, prosecutors have insisted they have a strong shot at convicting the premier of bribery, the most serious charge he faces. Netanyahu was indicted for fraud and breach of trust in all three graft cases he was indicted in, and for bribery in one of them.
“I expect [Supreme Court] President Hayut to condemn these harsh words against judges,” Education Minister Yoav Kisch told Army Radio. “What would happen if someone from the government came and said something like that? The country would lose its mind. You can’t have double standards.”
In a letter to Hayut, Likud’s coalition whip Ofir Katz cited a letter she had sent to judges in December 2021 condemning “brazen attacks on judges in response to their rulings. These are personal attacks on the justices and have nothing to do with legitimate, professional criticism.”
“This reality should trouble all those who care about the independence of the judicial system,” she wrote at the time, after current Likud minister David Amsalem called a Supreme Court justice “deranged” over a ruling on a petition against him.
Pointing to this missive, Katz told Hayut: “It is expected of you to come out in defense of the judges who are undergoing a fierce assault because of their judicial decision.” Katz did not explicitly mention Lador in his letter.
“Backing for the judges and a condemnation from you of the assault, no matter by what political side, would help establish public confidence in the system you lead — confidence that is important for all of us to bolster,” continued Katz.
A short while later on Sunday, a terse statement from Hayut said that “per her custom,” she would not comment on remarks concerning ongoing legal proceedings.
“Israeli judges are doing their work faithfully, professionally and fearlessly,” she said, declining to go into more detail.
Last month’s revelation about the judges’ comments caused public controversy, with supporters of the prime minister arguing it was proof the cases against him were false and nearing collapse, while critics stressed the comments had no bearing on the other charges he faces.
Following the leak of the judges, prosecutors have asked that all interactions between the bench and legal parties henceforth be recorded. The prosecutors also asked the Jerusalem District Court to expedite Netanyahu’s long-running graft trial by adding hearing days.
Netanyahu is accused of bribery in Case 4000, also known as the Bezeq-Walla case. It focuses on allegations that while serving as communications minister in 2014-2017, Netanyahu authorized regulatory decisions that financially benefited Bezeq telecommunications giant shareholder Shaul Elovitch to the tune of hundreds of millions of shekels. In return, Netanyahu allegedly received influence on media coverage in the Walla news site owned by Bezeq.
The prime minister is also on trial for fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000, charges the judges did not comment on. And he faces two additional counts of fraud and breach of trust — in Case 1000, which concerns gifts he allegedly inappropriately received from billionaire benefactors, and in Case 2000, in which he allegedly negotiated to obtain positive media coverage in a newspaper in exchange for curtailing its competitors.
The trial began in May 2020, and is predicted to stretch on for several more years unless a plea bargain can be reached.
Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing in the cases against him and claims that the charges were fabricated in a witch hunt led by the police and state prosecution.
The Times of Israel Community.