Law and disorder: 8 things to know for January 16

1. Lawyer up: Israel’s judicial system is being rocked by a massive corruption scandal that reaches close to the highest echelons of the law community.

• Much of the case remains under gag order, but the fact that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit recused himself from the case because of his relationship with the central suspect, and the fact that Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Esther Hayut are being summoned by anti-fraud police as part of the probe, points to just how high it goes.
• According to Channel 10 news, one of the suspects involved is close to the family of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• Haaretz reports that the main suspect is a top lawyer who tried to help two judges advance in their careers in exchange for sexual favors. In one case, he tried to have a magistrate’s court judge promoted to a district court in exchange for sex with the judge’s wife.
• “This is a dramatic and significant case,” Army Radio reports.

2. Guessing game: As happens every time a major case breaks but the suspects’ identities are gagged, rubberneckers and others waste no time in trying to guess who is involved.

• “The affair came to light two weeks ago and has sparked a wave of rumors regarding the identity of the suspects and the suspicions around them,” Haaretz reports.
• Yedioth Ahronoth notes that with rumors flying, top legal officials are worried about the possible damage caused to public trust by false stories being spread.
• Israel Hayom’s Akiva Bigman notes that the gag order is only helping to fuel the rumor mill: “Automatic gag orders are problematic and they run up against the basic right of the public to know.”

3.  Effi out: One name that papers can report is that of Effi Naveh, the head of the Israel Bar Association, who is expected to step down because of the case, according to the Walla news site.

• Other news sites report he will only take a leave of absence.
• Naveh, who is also on the panel that appoints judges, had already been in trouble recently after he was charged late last month with helping a female acquaintance sneak into the country.
• How is Naveh connected to the case? That, natch, is under gag order.

4. Dome deal: Yedioth Ahronoth reports that the US is planning on purchasing two Iron Dome anti-missile batteries, calling it the the “exit” of the system, a term normally reserved for high-tech buyouts, which are every Israeli entrepreneur’s holy grail.

• “The Americans don’t often purchase weapons from other countries, but given the abilities of Iron Dome, they just can’t wait,” the paper gushes, noting that the deal is worth some $400 million.
• “Don’t worry Israel, America is behind you,” the paper swoons and while the system was developed by Israel, it is not as white and blue as it may seem. It’s only at the end of the story that Yedioth notes the quite relevant fact that the Americans put $1.4 billion toward the project and that half of the system is now manufactured in the US by Raytheon.
• According to Raytheon, which calls the system SkyHunter, the part it has a hand in is the actual interceptor missile.
• Unlike most of the Israeli interceptors, the American ones will be deployed to protect troops abroad, and not civilian population centers.
• A Defense News roundup of missile defense upgrades being made by the US military does not include Iron Dome, but it does mention the US buying Israel’s Trophy and Iron Fist tank defense systems.

5. Israel may be behind America, but is it mutual? According to former US ambassador and frequent critic of Donald Trump Dan Shapiro, it may not be, should the president pull out of NATO.

• “U.S. allies outside the alliance benefit from the association. It has helped earn Israel a seat at the table as a NATO partner, has opened doors to cooperation with non-U.S. militaries, and helps prevent escalatory scenarios in moments of tension between Israel and NATO members, notably Turkey. In a post-NATO world, Israel’s alignment would be with an isolated United States that lacks the multiplying effect of broader Western support,” he writes in Haaretz.
• In the Atlantic, Dennis Ross, another former envoy, notes that when it comes to pulling out of the Middle East, Democrats aren’t that far from Trump’s ideology, and that’s a problem.
• “Although they may critique his rejection of multilateralism, in many cases, their view of the Middle East is not that different than his. They, too, want to withdraw from the world and reduce our responsibilities. They might respect the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program, but they show little willingness to assume obligations and responsibilities in the Middle East or internationally,” he writes.

6. A fighter not a lawmaker: This is just one of the challenges facing new army chief Aviv Kohavi, who officially took over on Tuesday.

• Another biggie will be avoiding getting dragged into politics, according to Nahum Barnea in Yedioth.
• “Kohavi has an advantage. He owes his promotion to nobody. He’s not in the political game. But the political game will do a lot to drag him into it,” he writes.

7. No like: Social media is being dragged into politics, with the Likud party facing heat for refusing to back rules that would make social media manipulation for electioneering illegal.

• “What is right for election advertising in the traditional media is right for online media. The opposition of Netanyahu and Likud leads us to question what the campaign will bring,” Haaretz’s lead editorial reads.
• But in pro-Netanyahu Israel Hayom, columnist Eitan Orkibi writes that it’s the media that should be constrained, after its attacks on Netanyahu following his undramatic dramatic speech last week, including one column that accused the premier of “brainwashing.”
• “Not only is this notion preposterous in general when it comes to the media, which in the age of multi-platform competition has become a brainwashing mechanism on steroids, it is doubly ludicrous when it comes to Netanyahu, whose most vociferous media critics have even admitted, openly and on more than one occasion, to harboring an unhealthy obsession toward him,” Orkibi writes.

8. Stuck in the snow and looking for something to read?

• ToI’s Luke Tress tells the extraordinary story of Israel’s champion runner mom, who almost wasn’t Israeli and wasn’t a champion.
• The Forward’s PJ Griser delves into the little-known world of those trying to return Nazi-looted books.
• Haaretz’s Judy Maltz takes a long, hard look at Orly Levy-Abekasis, a former model who may be a kingmaker in the elections.
• JTA’s Ben Sales looks at whether Artscroll’s dominance of the Orthodox prayer book market is about to end.