At disciplinary hearing, lawyer in collusion scandal defends messages to judge
Eran Shacham-Shavit claims exchange with Judge Ronit Poznansky-Katz, in corruption case linked to PM Netanyahu, as standard logistical procedure at pretrial hearings
Eran Shacham-Shavit, the legal adviser to the Israel Securities Authority, on Monday faced the Civil Service Commission’s disciplinary board after a series of leaked text messages appeared to show him colluding with the judge presiding over the Bezeq corruption case.
Shacham-Shavit told the board that he and Judge Ronit Poznansky-Katz were not previously acquainted, and said he was only in direct contact with her regarding the logistics of the case because he does not currently have an assistant.
In a WhatsApp chat obtained by Channel 10 news, Shacham-Shavit told Judge Ronit Poznansky-Katz on Sunday that the prosecution would seek the release of some suspects but not others.
“Try and act surprised” in the courtroom, Shacham-Shavit writes.
“I’m practicing my surprised face,” Poznansky-Katz responds.
In another chat, Shacham-Shavit writes that regarding the suspects “[Bezeq CEO] Stella [Handler] and Iris [Elovitch, Shaul’s wife], we will ask for a few more days tomorrow. They will request three days, but you can definitely, definitely give two days.”
“You’re continuing to reveal everything to me and I’ll have to act really, really surprised,” Poznansky-Katz responds, apparently jokingly.
The conversation took place before the suspects’ remand hearings in the so-called Case 4000, where they were ostensibly given an opportunity to make their case before the judge decided whether they can be released from custody and under what conditions.
In an attempt to explain the correspondence, Shacham-Shavit revealed to the board that police and the ISA were divided on how to approach the quickly ballooning corruption case involving Israel’s largest telecom company. He said that the ISA, as opposed to the police, favored releasing some of the lesser suspects in the case, such as senior Bezeq executive Amikam Shorer, and the son of Bezeq’s controlling shareholder, Or Elovitch.
Oded Svorai, an attorney who accompanied Shacham-Shavit to the hearing, said in a statement that his exchange with Poznansky-Katz was within the bounds of professional conduct in pretrial hearings.
Shacham-Shavit “is a professional, fair and ethical attorney who performs his duties with dedication and loyalty,” the statement said. “His conduct with Justice Poznansky-Katz was relevant and within the accepted and legitimate framework of an investigating authority.”
The statement noted that the case is more complicated than most, because the ongoing investigation has been jointly conducted by police and ISA investigators.
Following publication of the chat, Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked ordered a formal inquiry into Poznansky-Katz’s behavior.
In a public letter Monday, Hayut said the incident marked “a difficult morning for us all,” and said she had ordered the inquiry into the messages completed without delay. She urged her colleagues to do their work professionally and to do their utmost to “preserve public trust in our court system.”
In the meantime, Poznansky-Katz was removed from planned hearings in the case on Monday, with the president of the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court saying that she had been put on immediate leave and would not take part in any further court deliberations until the inquiry was completed.
Shacham-Shavit was also removed from the case and placed on leave, and the Israel Securities Authority vowed to investigate his actions.
Case 4000 involves suspicions that the chairman and controlling shareholder of the telecommunications giant Bezeq, Shaul Elovitch, ordered the Walla news site, which he owns, to grant positive coverage to Netanyahu and his family, in exchange for the prime minister allegedly advancing regulations benefiting Bezeq and Elovitch.
Shaul, Elovitch, his wife Iris and son Or Elovitch, Handler, Hefetz and Eli Kamir were due to appear in court Monday morning to appeal their remand to the alternate judge at the Tel Aviv court.
Earlier on Monday, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Monday called for a criminal investigation to be opened into the exchange between Poznansky-Katz and Shacham-Shavit.
“When you see a judge coordinating her rulings with the prosecution, it’s really a shocking thing, and in my opinion a criminal offense,” Erdan told Army Radio in an interview.
“It’s worth considering opening a criminal investigation,” he said, adding that all court materials in the case needed to be reviewed.
Coalition chairman MK David Amsalem also weighed in on the scandal, telling Army Radio that the incident was proof of the “obsessive” way in which legal authorities are pursuing criminal charges against Netanyahu.
“This is not a new problem and this will not end with this judge,” he said. “In the last two years, the police have been engaged in an obsessive, even sick chase after the prime minister in order to bring him down. And now look what is happening.”
