Her "Honor", Judge Ronit Poznanski-Katz, no longer presiding.
Hello, my countless legions of readers, and welcome to a special installment of the Weekend Holyland Update, in which Israel's judiciary comes apart at the seams, jeopardizing a major part of the case against Israel's Thief-in-Chief, PM Netanyahu.
First came the bizarre news that District Judge Hilla Gerstel, the one who allegedly got an offer to drop a case against Netanyahu's wife in return for an appointment as Attorney General, was being less than cooperative in the belated discovery and investigation of this affair. According to the police (who are never ever to be believed just because they say so, but this has not been denied), when Judge Gerstel was asked to confront Eli Kamir, the man suspected of making the offer to her, she said: "Only if he's released after that."
Um, wha? Yeah, we get y'all are/were (still are, apparently!) friends, which is why he was sent to talk to you in the first place and probably why, despite being shocked, you told nobody but Justice Esther Hayut and then let it drop when she did nothing. But seriously? This is how a judge behaves?
Well, apparently this wasn't the worst of "how a judge behaves". Tonight on Channel 10 News, legal reporter Doron Herman had a major scoop: A screenshot of texts between Judge Ronit Poznanski-Katz, the arraignment judge in Case 4000, and Eran Shachar-Shavit, the head of the Securities Authority investigation and prosecution into the Case 4000 shenanigans. In these texts, the two discuss an arraignment hearing scheduled for the next day, in terms that make it beyond clear that the entire process of remanding and extending custody, or conversely of releasing suspects, is one big, pre-determined sham.
(Securities prosecutor):
"Cool, at least the nice news, Or [Alovitch, son of Bezeq owner Shaul] and Amikam [Shorer, Deputy CEO at Bezeq] will be released tomorrow with [restrictive] conditions.
Look surprised."
(Judge Poznanski):
- I'll start working on an appropriate look of total surprise.
"Stella [Handler, CEO at Bezeq] and Iris [Alovitch, Shaul's wife] we'll ask for a few days tomorrow. You can totally give two days."
- You keep telling me everything and I'll have to look really surprised.
But maybe the outline we discussed isn't so far from reality...
The exchange ends with a cryptic remark by the Securities Authority guy. In response to the judge's reference to some "outline" they had previously discussed, he says: "It cost me in blood. I almost got beat up or arrested at Lahav."
[Lahav 433 is the police anti-corruption and organized crime unit]
Now, it's only a matter of time till some douche with a law degree takes to some platform or other to inform us rubes that this is just routine, and no big deal, and we don't understand how it works in practice... But fuck that person and fuck this argument. I am the last person anyone can suspect of sympathy for these detainees, but I happen to know firsthand that Every. Single. Day. in jail is hell. You don't cavalierly close a deal with the prosecution without hearing arguments, ex-parte. The legal system has no meaning that way.
Not that I'm shocked, mind. Why? Because something very similar happened to me when I was arrested for 40 days on a weed beef. During one of the hearings on extending custody, the police were asking for three days more. The judge is 40 minutes late, walks in and goes "I've already read the case and made up my mind. I'm extending custody." My lawyer and my co-defendant's go 'um, Your Honor, all due respect, we have a right to plead our case.' She snarls at them that she's already made up her mind and why waste time. Finally she gives in (cause she has no choice) and to punish them for insisting extends our arrest by FIVE days. So I'm not shocked, but that was just an unknown drug case. This is the big-leagues, and these two chummy dummies made a bush-league play.
The result? Poznanski will not be presiding at arraignment hearing to extend the remand of the suspect tomorrow, and they are ALL expected to be freed in light of this egregious breach of impartiality. In addition, ALL of Justice Putznanski's past judicial decisions will now probably be dragged up and re-examined, especially in this case but in others as well.
The most depressing thing here, even more than the appalling ethical violation and cavalier attitude towards defendants' rights, the complete contempt for the rules and due process that are the very source of these people's authority - is the RANK MOTHERFUCKING IMBECILITY. I mean, here you two are, prosecuting and presiding over the most visible, publicized case in the country in years, one that reaches all echelons of wealth and power, one that involves THE COUNTRY'S LEADING TELECOM BEHEMOTH, and this is how you talk? IN TEXT MESSAGES? Were you two fucks throwing the case on purpose, or were you auditioning for "Exhibit A and B" in the sequel to IDIOCRACY? To paraphrase the sainted Mark Renton: "They're just astonishingly stupid wankers! We, on the other hand, are RULED by astonishingly stupid wankers! We couldn't even find clever fucks to be ruled by!"
And now these wankers have scored a massive own-goal (if it was even a mistake), and jeopardized the hope of finally getting rid of this crooked scumbag.
It's a shite state of affairs to be in, me bonnie lasses and bairns, and all the fresh hummus in the world won't make any fuckin' difference.
great post, i can only say, patience is the key, thank you
They'll be people paying close attention to any mistake the prosecution makes during this time. if they are incompetent, any chance of charges being laid are gone.
A rather naive judge or one who doesn't know to play within the faulty system. I wonder how the reporter took that screen shot of the whatsapp discussing on the phone. Probably behind the prosecutor's shoulders...
Witty post. Upvoted 👍
Thank you, nicholas and magus. I will, as they say, be here all week. :-)