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Israeli Politicians Call For Probe Following Whatsapp Scandal

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Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan called Monday for a criminal investigation into the alleged collusion between a public prosecutor and the judge presiding over the File 4000 Bezeq corruption case. The two are suspected of coordinating the number of days that suspects in the case would be detained.

“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. “Its worth considering opening a criminal investigation; this is a serious incident, and it’s pretty clear that their careers are over. Who will believe them now?” he added.

Erdan’s call to prosecute Justice Ronit Poznansky-Katz and Israel Securities Authority lawyer Eran Shacham-Shavit followed a report, published Sunday night by Hebrew-language Channel 10 News, alleging that the pair maintained a dialogue via the Whatsapp instant messaging application in which Shavit alerted the judge as to which suspects the prosecution would request that the court continued to detain.

“Try and act surprised in the courtroom,” Shavit wrote, to which Poznansky-Katz responded “I’m practicing my surprised face.”

Following the report, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and along with Supreme Court President Esther Hayut ordered an official inquiry into the incident. In an open letter sent by Hayut to Israel’s justice system Monday, the Chief Justice called the incident “difficult”. Both Poznansky-Katz and Shacham-Shavit have been suspended indefinitely.

Erdan also said that all previous rulings in Case 4000 need to be reviewed. Coalition Chairman MK David Amsalem, one of the justice system’s most vocal critics, told Army Radio that the incident serves as proof that the legal system is “obsessively” pursuing criminal charges against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

“This is not a new problem and this will not end with this judge,” said Amsalem, “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,” Amsalem added.

On an entirely different matter, Erdan ordered police to bar Palestinian Education Minister Dr. Sabri Saidam from visiting the Terra Sancta High School for Boys, a prominent private Christian school in Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday. The Minister was set to be joined by Samir Jibril, the head of the Jerusalem Education Administration, an arm of the Palestinian Authority, as well as other Palestinian officials.

Erdan said the planned visit would have violated a ban on Palestinian diplomatic activity in Jerusalem. “The fight for sovereignty in Jerusalem has not ended,” he said. “The Palestinian Authority, together with other players, is trying to undermine and chip away at our sovereignty. I will continue to work as hard as I can to prevent that, and to defend our sovereignty throughout the country,” he added.

By: Yona Schnitzer
(TPS)

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