Refusing to go quietly, judge and prosecutor in texting scandal deny wrongdoing

A judge and public prosecutor accused of colluding in a high profile case connected to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have denied wrongdoing and are vowing to fight to remain in their positions.

WhatsApp phone messages published Sunday appeared to show judge Ronit Poznansky-Katz and Eran Shacham-Shavit, the legal adviser to the Israel Securities Authority, coordinating their positions ahead of a remand hearing for suspects arrested in the Bezeq corruption case.

The alleged collusion was immediately condemned and the two were placed on leave pending a hearing by respective disciplinary boards, with politicians and pundits seizing on the exchange as proof of rot inside the judicial system.

The results of a judiciary disciplinary review of both the judge and lawyer are expected to be published Tuesday.

However, both Poznansky-Katz and Schacham Shavit reportedly say the text messages were not intended to collude, but rather were the only way the two could exchange logistical information ahead of the remand hearing.

A source close to the judge told Channel 10 news she was returning after a long break “and was forced to coordinate times for the hearings from her phone without the help of a clerk or secretary.”

“The judge has nothing to hide and one only needs to read the whole exchange to get a satisfactory picture,” the source said. “The police and ISA had differing opinions and the ISA representative was just telling her about them.”

According to Hadashot News, Poznansky-Katz said that “while I acted incorrectly, this doesn’t even scratch the surface of an ethical [violation].”

In the 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 in the case, which involved allegations that the Communications Ministry gave Bezeq favorable regulatory rulings in exchange for positive coverage for Netanyahu in the Walla news site. Both Bezeq and Walla are owned by Shaul Elovitch, who has been arrested in the case along with his wife, son and other Bezeq executives.

“Try and act surprised” in the courtroom, Shacham-Shavit wrote.

“I’m practicing my surprised face,” Poznansky-Katz responded.

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 full exchange was published Monday, however, and appeared to be less damning than initially reported, showing the two were mainly discussing case logistics. However, judicial sources told Channel 10 the fuller version did not significantly alter the problematic nature of the texts, which appeared to show the judge and prosecutor deciding on remand extensions ahead of time.

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.

Following publication of the chat Sunday, Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked ordered a formal inquiry into Poznansky-Katz’s behavior. Shaked said Monday that the judge would be removed from the bench if necessary.

“If they find the Channel 10 report on the coordination to be true, Poznansky-Katz “won’t remain a judge,” said the justice minister. “If necessary I will convene the judicial appointments committee and we will exercise our powers of impeachment.”

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.

In an attempt to explain the correspondence, Shacham-Shavit told the Civil Service Commission’s disciplinary board Monday that he was only in direct contact with the judge regarding the logistics of the case because he does not currently have an assistant.

He said 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 hearing lasted 10 hours, according to Hadashot news.

The revelations have roiled Israel’s political landscape, with Netanyahu’s backers seizing on it as proof that the prime minister, suspected in two other graft cases, is the victim of a witchhunt.

Coalition chairman MK David Amsalem told Army Radio Monday 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.”

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan 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 Monday. “It’s worth considering opening a criminal investigation.”