Nir Hefetz's drama: Justice Minister Amir Ohana stirred up controversy at noon (Wednesday) after it was claimed that during his speech from the podium in the Knesset plenum, he violated the gag order in Case 4000, and detailed the police's scandalous interrogation tactics in the interrogation of state witness Nir Hefetz.
Ohana said: "They bring in a young woman who has nothing to do with the prime minister's investigations and ask her a series of penetrating and invasive questions about the nature of the relationship between her and the witness. After squeezing all the information out of her like a lemon, and I remind her that she is not a suspect in anything, they accidentally bring them together in the hallway and tell him: 'Nir, we know everything, we will drop a bomb on your family.
""Then Nir surrenders, signs a state witness agreement and gives the police a version. The version is checked and turns out to be false, then he goes out with one of the investigators, they go for a period of time that is not recorded and we do not know what was in this conversation, and then he returns and gives a full, tailored version that matches one by one the data in the investigators' possession.".
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""I want to remind you. The investigation is over, there is nothing to disrupt. When journalist Amit Segal contacts the editor with a query, the Attorney General replies that he is not familiar with this investigation, and a short time later Amit receives a gag order. Is this what pursuing the truth looks like?" the minister asked.
Minister Ohana described a number of past cases in which he claimed there were flaws in the conduct of the prosecution - and said: "I'm not talking about mistakes, I'm not talking about failures, I'm talking about malice, I'm talking about serious crimes committed on your watch, the heads of the enforcement system, and you stand like a wall and protect the criminals. Why? This is how the system protects itself from a real investigation, this is how it allows corruption to take over, this is how government corruption is created.
""Sympathetic media coverage? You made me laugh. How did your court reporters become spokespeople for the State Attorney, and how did the watchdogs of democracy applaud the police and prosecutors in flattering articles and in defense against any attack - if not in exchange for generous leaks straight from the law enforcement agencies' offices.".
Ohana's speech and the things he said during it caused a storm in the political system and sharp criticism of the Minister of Justice.
MK Yael German of Blue and White issued a response with a direct appeal to Minister Ohana: "You have committed a despicable act here. You stood on the podium, abused your position and harmed not only the Attorney General's Office - but you have put in one basket all those who threaten your lord the Prime Minister and, may God have mercy on him, perhaps he will file an indictment against him. You have put the Attorney General, the State Attorney and the entire Attorney General's Office in one basket.".
MK Tamar Zandberg from the Democratic Camp said: "In the context of another rapprochement speech, the Minister of Justice decided to violate a gag order and revealed personal details under the guise of protecting the rights of those being investigated, and he didn't even recognize the irony.".
Later, Minister Ohana issued a clarification of his statement, saying: "There is no truth in the report that I used my parliamentary immunity to reveal what was in the gag order. I only repeated things that had already been published, and I did not renew anything because I have nothing to renew from the investigation materials, which are not in my possession.".
