Judge orders state return Elovitch jewelry seized illegally in Case 4000 probe

A Supreme Court Justice orders the state to return jewelry that was confiscated from Shaul and Iris Elovitch that was taken from their home without a court order during a police search earlier this year.

Justice Isaac Amit determined that the jewelry — worth some NIS 600,000 — was seized illegally and must be returned to the couple.

Elovitch’s home was searched in February as part of a corruption investigation called Case 4,000, that involves suspicions that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advanced regulatory decisions benefiting Elovitch in exchange for flattering coverage from his news site.

In his decision, Amit criticizes the state for its handling of the case, saying the insistence on seizing the jewelry the couple was wearing at the time of the search — including their wedding rings — was an effort to “another level of humiliation.”