Etty Kreif: "You did not want me as a judge, you will accept me as Minister of Justice"

A year after the case was closed in the "Sex for Appointment" case, the retired judge explains why her radio show was stopped, plans to reach Netflix with her story and closes accounts with Hadas Steif, the justice system and the police

Sherry Makover-Belikov

10/06/2022

Friday, 10 June 2022, 16:04 Updated: Saturday, 11 June 2022, 13:38

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In the video: Animals about Etty Kreif: "No method of appointment is immune from exceptional events" (Photo: Ministry of Justice)

The new life of Etty Kreif, the former justice of the peace who gave new meaning to the innocent sentence "lift the burden of proof", is no less exciting than the interpretation of quotes leaked from her cellphone.

A little over a year after the case was closed in the "Sex for Appointment" affair, and Krief is recovering well.

Or in the pictorial language: "I'm definitely in the shallow water right now, but I intend to dive into the deep water and become an outstanding swimmer."

And in the deep water everything goes: radio, politics, reality, campaigns, fashion shows, not necessarily in that order, and recently even talking about a series based on her life story.

"At this point, options are being explored with my agent, Roberto Ben-Shoshan," Kreif obscures for fear of the evil eye.

"When I was sitting in an unemployed house, in limbo, if a single parent without a livelihood, it did not touch or bother anyone. Some of us probably prefer the weak and the poor over the brave and determined."

"I'm a talent too, and I'm not surprised. Thanks to the hell I went through I discovered paradise. And it's beautiful, and it's colorful and bright and I blend in with it like a glove."

"Every job respects its owner. From my personal knowledge, judges are human beings too. Just because they hide behind a cloak does not mean they are not human beings. And I'm talking personal information."

"There are a lot of suggestions."

"Probably".

"I am proud to be a judge who is also a human being. It means one who is not exalted from the people and whose ability to judge with grace and matter-of-factness transcends all class arrogance."

"I like to look at the half-full glass, so I discovered I have another talent, that people will resent them for fun, but I can also be a radio broadcaster.

"I had a great time. I have a radio voice and also the ability to convey a witty and light-hearted message through the waves of the site. Also financially it was not bad to improve my miserable situation. That the journalist Hadas Steif (who revealed the connection between Naveh and Kreif - Shamav) should be placed in front of a firing squad.

That it's half true.

Not to say a lie, because I also said I said, even if I lingered for a few seconds, that there is no room for violence but only by legal means at our disposal.

"Let's not forget that this is my first radio show and that this term merely expresses disgust and public condemnation of Mrs. Steif's actions."

More on Walla!

Animals about Etty Kreif: "The method of appointing judges is not immune to exceptional events"

To the full article

"You did not want me as a judge. You will accept me as Minister of Justice."

Kreif (Photo: Ilan Besor)

Why does her name arouse so much emotion in you?

"Because in my opinion, if I were complaining about a senior man, let's theoretically say about Effie Naveh as if he sexually harassed me, Mrs. Steiff was the first to advocate for me and then I was also a 'Who's favorite and probably the prosecution's favorite." Harassing her and having to eliminate him and his family and lift the victim on his hands, but also when the woman wants on her own initiative and choice.

"If you are a feminist, then to the end. A woman's right to her body is anyway. It is therefore convenient to protect her only if she is a poor victim? What a poor message it is to women and what a scary message it is to men. When a woman wants intimate relationships, if I chose That's my right. And if you're a feminist, then defend me. Why is the notion that a woman like Etty Kreif should go through bed and a man never go out of bed? It's an insult to feminism. A woman does not go through a point. Of course, cases of rape or harassment, which I will oppose in any way. "

"No, on the day I ask to close an account with her this will be done solely by the legal means at my disposal. No account extraction will restore my previous life and heal my soul."

"I really appreciate the station's CEO David Ben Best, and when I realized that there was a witness of complaints on the way to him, and that this might hurt his station, I decided in cooperation with him that we stop the program, even though it saddens him and me.

I think that was the right thing to do. "

" No, it's not my dream to be a broadcaster.

I just enjoyed the road.

I am both a model and a lecturer and a lawyer and a writer.

I started writing a book on the first day of the interrogation.

I knew I would write a book like I knew I would be a lawyer and a judge, and as I know I would be a Member of Knesset and also the Minister of Justice.

I'm fulfilling dreams in a serial way. "The

" This is not unreasonable.

You did not want me as a judge, you will accept me as Minister of Justice. "

Almost everything can be said about a cricket, squeak, object, lash out or even admire, but one thing is for sure: the former judge, who experienced a difficult and humiliating public crisis, has a backbone and positive energies that can only be envied.

She is constantly happy and smiling.

Refuses to fall and retreat, but also to admit guilt or take responsibility.

She insists on her side of the story, which gives a different interpretation to the version presented in the media, and aims high even if the circumstances are not entirely in her favor.

In her beautiful home in Moshav Tzrufa, the sun is shining and the vegetation is well-kept.

Most of the houses on the quiet street where she lives have no number or last name, but the sign "Kreif" hangs in the front, overlooking the street proud, defiant, present.

Here she received that phone call informing her, "either you will resign voluntarily or an indictment will be filed against you."

On the white porch, on the shaded wooden bench, she cried for the first time when she realized the magnitude of the rift and that her judicial career was behind her.

From her study, laden with certificates of excellence and degrees, she tore up the photos that documented her at the swearing-in ceremony.

In it she also feverishly wrote the story of her life from the moment she realized that it had completely turned on her.

"The book is a therapeutic act," she says.

"Life is complex enough to pick up at least one drama series about my life. I recently finished writing.

I currently have a 270-page draft, and all that is left is to change some names and details so as not to embarrass anyone, including myself.

I found it helps to be busy.

Ever since the affair exploded, I'm really on the 'move motion' weight.

I did sports so much and with such power that I really harmed my body and also wrote a fascinating book that would become a movie and one day it would be sold to Netflix.

It will happen too.

This too is another one of those dreams that will come true.

I found out I'm not transparent, and if I'm not transparent anymore, let's leverage it into effective places. ”

“ The best way with the highest capacity for influence is politics.

That is why I functioned for the Likud.

It was the most natural and most requested thing, even though it was unplanned.

I come from a Likud house, I voted for the Likud all my life, and when I met two friends at a fish restaurant in Netanya, they took out a page and offered me to run for the party.

They said that I really fit into the Likud's DNA. So spontaneously, which characterizes me more than once in my life, I signed the page and functioned.

It is clear that if I had planned this in advance, I would have gone to Ze'ev Fortress to meet one Knesset member or another, take care of photography, face, suit, not be photographed at a fish restaurant in Netanya casually.

But it rolled and also the amount of referrals that were on this issue intensified.

To tell the truth?

I understand that it is a pity to miss my ability to see, play, change and correct things that already require correction in the country. "

Not in connection with the date of the interrogation.

Naveh (Photo: Flash 90, official website)

If you are elected to the Knesset, what will you fix?

"The first two things to fix, which I'm also good at, are the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. These bodies can not do what they want just because they can. Pack his belongings in a box and go home.The problem with the police and the prosecution is that the hand is light on the trigger in classifying acts as serious criminal offenses.The hand is light on threats in investigations, on trampling on the rights of defendants and suspects.

Someone needs to stop this, because as long as the caravan passes, people will continue to trample on rights and name and employment and families of people.

Too many times the case was closed as non-existent, and people who advanced in the systems forgot those who harmed them until the next victim.

It can not go on like this.

If there is one reason why I am considering entering politics and running in the upcoming primaries, it is to stop the roller coaster that crushes mainly high-ranking public figures on the basis of a new law: political assassination. "

"

In the State of Israel, as in the rest of the world, there is the presumption of innocence, which has recently become the presumption of conviction. "

ran

"The conviction is image-based. I, too, experienced the presumption of conviction when I starred over every fresh page as a judge. My case was closed, but what will they remember of me? Sex in exchange for an appointment. It's not the balloon exploded The balloon is over, all my life Can? It's the law of souls. "

"A judge is supposed to judge fearlessly and impartially. And I want to tell you something, most of the judges I knew were terrified of my life, and this intimidation testifies that fear and prejudice are really not from them and beyond. And why? Because they know very well how they were appointed, what connections they made, An affair with whom, and who received notice of the appointment before the actual appointment from the head of the bureau that he is not Epic Naveh and who is assisted by the father or senior brother in the political or legal system. So they will not work on me. "Therefore, when I am in a key position, in a position of influence, I will know which judges are right for the system. From experience, not revenge or liquidation, I will know who the honest, honest and professional person is, because I have experienced it on my flesh, and no wise man has experience."

Kreif as a judge (Photo: Official website, court website)

From a young age, Kreif dreamed of becoming a judge.

The desire to sit on the bench in the courtrooms had a profound effect on her life trajectory.

She was born an eldest daughter, a sister to three sons, and her parents worked hard until they positioned themselves financially.

"Helping others and giving in secret was the bread and butter of the law at home, and I always had a well-developed sense of justice and a stomach that screams in the face of injustice," Kreif testifies.

"Maybe I was also influenced by TV series about lawyers and judges. When my girlfriends played with puppets, I played with a briefcase, and when I went to court, it shook my heart. To this day my heart expands in the courtroom, in front of the Israeli flag and all the symbols that always fascinated me. The desire to be a part of it was an unconquerable urge. "

Kreif graduated in engineering, industry and management, business administration and law.

In 2019, a criminal investigation was opened in which Efi Naveh, the head of the Bar Association at the time, and Krif, were suspected of poorly intervening in the process of appointing judges in exchange for sexual bribery.

According to the suspicion, Kreif asked Mana to find out why she was waiting so long for a summons to a first subcommittee.

After finding out, Kreif took a judging adjustment course, which is considered the next step in the screening, she received a failing grade - 4.5 out of 10 (according to Kreif the final score was 5.2 - SMB), and it was determined that "her skills are not suitable for judging." For the next stage, she was summoned to the Judicial Appointments Committee, and seven of her members recommended her to the priesthood.How

"This course is a nonsense that the time has come to disappear from the world. It is a hypocritical course, that a significant proportion of the people sent to it are challenged and not even asked a single question. They take the course on foot, probably because of their history and connections. .

"They do not deserve to be examined, because they were hugely wrong. The proof is that in the end I was an excellent judge. Excellent. I wish all the judges were like me. I wish I was judged by a judge like me: human, devoted. I did not appoint myself. "In the committee for appointing judges and receiving salaries for this, such as the president of the Supreme Court, two ministers, two Knesset members, representatives of the Bar Association."

"The course is not everything. Two weeks ago it was published in 'The Hottest Place in Hell' that more than a third of the judges elected to the Magistrates' Courts failed the screening course. There is a secret database, which I only saw in the investigation material, The course. I personally know about some judges who did not pass the course and what connections they made to pass the course. The course is not a substitute for education and experience. It should fly out of the world and be replaced by a real test with questions and answers It suits him well because she is not someone's daughter. "

"When I finished the course, I felt I had passed it excellently. So I called my friend Effie Naveh and told him, I feel I went excellently. And he said, I'm sure. The course. They say you are valued but you do not have a judicial temperament. I have no judicial temperament? The bureau, I did not mention in any way the intimate relationship between us and I told him, Effie, claim that I did not pass the course, check why. And he checks and tells me, you have been wronged. "Where is the wrong part here? I told Effie to check in memory of the days that were and will be, I did not ask him to intervene for me."

"Effie is not the only one I have approached to check. There is no sin in trying to make connections to reach a goal. People do it all the time. It is legitimate."

"If you are feminists, then to the end."

Steiff (Photo: Flash 90, official website)

For only two years, Kreif conducted the hearings in the Netanya Magistrate's Court, until the connection between her and Naveh was discovered.

Journalist Hadas Steif received his private cell phone from Naveh's ex-wife, obtained his correspondence and handed the phone to the police in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Police opened an investigation, and Naveh and Krif were summoned for questioning.

During her interrogation, when she was left alone in the room, Kreif deleted messages from her personal phone.

The messages were recovered by the police and revealed that former Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who is also a member of the Judicial Selection Committee, was in close personal contact with Kreif.

"In any reformed country, a person who is neither an investigator nor a police officer who breaks into a phone without a permit or order, would find himself in prison just like breaking into a house, even though the phone is sometimes much more discreet than home," Kreif is furious.

"How do you give immunity to such a serious invasion of privacy?".

"The correspondence brought the police to me. I was under investigation for 13 hours, as the last of the criminals. I even had to ask permission to go to the bathroom and was accompanied there. At one point I asked to update my son, who was left alone at home, because my partner Goldie (Tal Goldman - there" B) Waited for me outside the Blade offices.

Then in my heart I made the decision to spontaneously protect my friends and delete the messages I had on the phone with five public figures, not one or two, who were in no way connected to Effie Naveh and the investigation they conducted against me.

"I did it, because what have my friends sinned, and because I am a person with standards of loyalty and values ​​of friendship, which are above all. I did not worry about myself, I worried about my friends. I knew the room was filmed and they would see it. I was a police officer for 14 years The criminal, and precisely because of this, when I saw the order allowing investigators to review all my correspondence, I allowed myself to delete messages unrelated to the tip of the dust to Effie Naveh and the subject of the investigation, to protect my friends, including Chief Justice Yosef Elron and former Minister Kahlon. "Ranking the people I asked to delete."

"Not necessarily, but I am by nature a very discreet person. No one ever knew who was close to me, who supported me and with whom I was in contact. I am not a braggart. In the police I had a very good friend who was my commander but no one knew. Such am I. ".

"There was no intimate, unequivocal connection between us. That's my speaking style. I'm not ashamed of it."

"A grocery list can not be used as evidence of a bank robbery. If I were deleting Maffa Naveh messages or text messages related to the appointment, then fine, but I deleted messages that were not related at all to the investigation in good faith and with complete understanding that I keep my friends. When I deleted the text messages, I knew they could be recovered, and it just made me feel confident that nothing bad would happen to me from this reckless decision, that at the end of the day she, and only she, caused the cat to devour the cream. The only thing they could use was to grab me by the throat and tell me, or you would interpret, or an indictment for destroying evidence. "

In December 2019, the police announced that an evidentiary basis had been formed against Naveh and Kreif for committing offenses in the area of ​​chastity, following which the prosecution decided to file an indictment against Naveh for bribery, fraud and breach of trust and against Kreif for bribery and destruction of evidence subject to a hearing.

Three months later, Naveh resigned and Kreif resigned from the judiciary.

"There is a glass ceiling for a woman who comes from the periphery and especially if she is an Oriental who comes from a home whose parents do not even have a high school diploma," says Kreif bitterly.

"I'm not saying it's impossible to get anywhere from any point, I'm the proof of that myself, but for women like me the road is less paved and climbing is harder. "What do you want from her? She has four degrees and is an excellent judge."

"I did not grow up with this insight and did not believe in it until it happened to me. Today I can say that it was so easy to throw me off all the stairs because I do not come from its spaces and my parents are not from the right place, even though I am no less good than any other judge."

"I deserve to light a beacon because I erased those text messages. But when the ship sinks, the mice run away. So do the mice I protected. And yet I have proven that I am a trustworthy person and that values ​​of loyalty to friends and protecting their privacy are more important to me than my own privacy. Proves I was right. "

"Because I did not have the mental strength and financial abilities to keep coping. It happened in a hurry. They called me and said, here and now, decide immediately, or you resign from the trial, or you are indicted. I asked for an hour to think and called my father. We sat in the garden and told him, what I will do? And my father told me, nothing is worth your suffering. Leave them, open an office, be a top attorney. They are not worth you. So I wrote to the attorney, agreeing sadly. "It was the first time I was heartbroken. It was a murder and an inheritance."

"Even when the police recommended the indictment, I felt a complete shock, a knife in the heart. My world was destroyed on me. It was dark. I could not believe that I, an excellent citizen, an honest person who educates his children in values ​​and integrity, became a criminal. I was bleeding. It was like blood. "A nightmare I just wanted to wake up from. And yet, until the last minute, I believed that the case against me would be closed and that I would receive a huge apology. I even made a few lines of what I say after being informed that the case was closed. I was sure it was going to end and I wanted to be ready with words of thanks."

"That I thank the police and the prosecution who came to investigate the truth and did their job faithfully and I thank my spouse and children, and that I am happy to be a better and more understanding judge again."

"Today I would not delete any messages, because no one is worth keeping my privacy at the expense of my freedom of occupation and good name."

"I insist that what I did with Naveh is completely legitimate and all the hypocrites who criticize my actions will look at themselves in the white of the eyes and tell me when was the last time they asked someone to check on which unit their son would serve, what room could be upgraded for them in the hotel. The rumor that I did not pass the course worse? Why did they treat me as a cripple? Because I was easy prey. I was an orphan. The prosecutor's office and the police are a protected animal. "This is what was expected of me. But I can say that if my face today symbolizes what should not be done, because it has a price, then I am proud of it."

"We are not in touch from the day of the interrogation. I am not angry with him and he is not angry with me, but there are other considerations related to the relationship and the family."

היה בקשר קרוב עם כרייף. כחלון(צילום: פלאש 90, אתר רשמי)

אז עכשיו היא בבית. שוקלת הצעות, בוחנת את האפשרויות שלה. ובין לבין מגיחה להשקות מתוקשרות והפקות אופנה בכיכובה. אפילו דמות ב"ארץ נהדרת" כבר יש לה. נדמה שהיא נהנית מזה. "עכשיו יש לי קצת יותר זמן למשפחה ולעצמי", היא מחייכת. "בתקופה שבה הייתי שופטת לא ראיתי בית, לא זוגיות, לא חיי משפחה ולא חברים. הייתי נתונה כל כולי ומאודי מכף רגל עד ראש לתיקים שהייתי צריכה לפסוק בהם. חוץ מלהשכיב את התיקים לישון ולתת להם ארוחת בוקר, עשיתי הכל. אפילו לקחתי אותם הביתה".

בעבר עלתה טענה שלעתים מופעלים לחצים לא כשרים על שופטים.

"עליי לא הופעלו לחצים, אבל יש שיחות מסדרון שיש בהן שופטים, ואף פעם אי אפשר לדעת לאן זה יוביל בסוף ולאן זה יחלחל. שופטים משתפים את החברים שלהם בכל מיני דברים, החל בקשרים שיש להם וכלה בתלונות שמגישים עליהם. וכמו כל בן אדם, אנחנו בני השפעה ולא ל"ו צדיקים. גם לשופטים יש רומנים וגם לשופטים יש עניינים בחיים הפרטיים. האם זה פוגע בעבודה שלהם? אולי. בשלי זה לא פגע".

לאחרונה מתרבות ההתקפות הבוטות על מערכת המשפט. איך את מרגישה כשאת שומעת את יו"ר יהדות התורה, ח"כ יצחק פינדרוס, אומר "החלום שלי הוא לפוצץ את בית המשפט העליון"?

"אני לא בעד הסגנון הזה. והוא לא הסגנון שלי. אני לא בעד להרוס שום דבר ואף אחד. אני בעד להוקיע התנהגות עבריינית בחסות החוק".

אבל הצטרפת למפלגה שאחד מבכיריה, ח"כ דוד אמסלם, תקף את נשיאת העליון חיות בחריפות חסרת תקדים כששאל אותה בפומבי "מה שתית הנשיאה חיות?" ואמר לה "אל תחשבי שאנחנו אהבלים, במקום לכתוב קשקושי שטויות שאת עצמך לא מבינה, תכתבי: מר אמסלם, אני לא סובלת אותך, לא סובלת את האמסלמים ולא המכלופים ולא אתן לכם סיוע למה זה שלנו".

"אני מכירה את האמירות האלה ואני מכבדת את האנשים שאומרים אותן ואת הזכות שלהם להתבטא איך שמתאים להם. חופש הביטוי הוא זכות חשובה. אני לא מחלקת ציונים על סגנון. יש כאלה שגם לא אוהבים את הסגנון שלי, אבל עדיין זו לא עבירה להתבטא. אני מגנה עבריינות ואפליה בוטה בשירות בית המשפט ומוקיעה פגיעה בפרטיות והדלפת שיחות וחקירות וצביעות סלקטיבית".

נתקלת בשוביניזם והטרדות במערכת המשפט?

"ראיתי דברים שיכולים לפתוח יופי מהדורות".

גם בתפקידך הקודם במשטרה?

"Indeed. Everyone is hypocritical and pious. When this happened to me, their mouths filled with water without blinking. In my eyes, both the police and the judges are hypocritical and selective, though not in general. There are some righteous people in Sodom, "Someone asked me, 'Say, are you not bothered? I replied,' When I want, it does not bother me, and when I do not want, no one dares to bother me. '"

"I will not go into detail. I just say that there were things I saw, heard and also experienced. Judges are human beings. With my own eyes I saw that they also go to the bathroom."

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