The state's witness against Gal Hirsch - a former lawyer who was convicted of attempting to solicit murder

It was allowed to be published that the state witness in the "Defensive Shield" case is Gor Finkelstein, who was previously convicted of conspiracy to murder a state witness and attempting to solicit the murder of prosecution witnesses.

Finkelstein was the lawyer for Hirsch and the other defendants in the case.

Hirsch claimed: "Excessive eagerness and poor judgment of the state"

Bini Ashkenazi

07/09/2022

Wednesday, September 7, 2022, 02:13 Updated: 02:17

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Gur Finkelstein (Photo: Police Spokesperson Division)

The state's witness in the "Defensive Shield" case, in which Gal Hirsh is accused, among others, is Gur Finkelstein, a former lawyer who was previously convicted of conspiracy to murder a state witness and attempting to solicit the murder of prosecution witnesses - this was allowed to be published tonight (Wednesday).

The state witness was the lawyer for the defendants Gal Hirsch, Oded Shechnai and Michael Binyamini and he opened foreign companies for them, which according to the indictment had no actual business activity.

The companies were mainly intended for holding bank accounts in order to receive their share of operating profits in Georgia, in a way that helped them avoid paying taxes in Israel.

In 2011, a serious indictment was filed against him for the crimes of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit a crime, aggravated assault, arson, and other crimes.

The indictment attributed to Finkelstein an intention to murder his ex-wife and her partner through criminals for NIS 140,000, during the year 2010. Among other things, Finkelstein was accused of being involved in planting an explosive device in a car, which caused serious injuries to his ex-wife's partner and daughter.

At the end of the trial, Finkelstein was convicted of conspiracy to commit a crime, aggravated assault with aggravated intent, attempted aggravated assault with aggravated intent, attempted solicitation of murder and obstruction of justice.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Gal Hirsch (Photo: Reuven Castro)

The request to allow his name to be published was submitted by the defense attorneys of the defendants in the case, Navot Tel Tzur and Tal Shapira, Dan Eldad and Giora Adrat, who represent Hirsch, as well as the lawyer of the defendant Oded Shekhnai, Jacques Chen.

The prosecutor's office believed that the extension of the gag order until after the testimony of the state witness and his re-examination after it expresses a correct and proportionate balance between the principle of the public hearing and the public's right to know, and considerations of the purity of the criminal procedure and the prevention of damage to the witness's testimony, as well as between the harm that may be caused to the state witness and the criminal procedure and the benefit The applicants claimed that the prosecutor's office believed that it was questionable.

The court decided to allow the publication, and after the prosecutor's office reviewed its decision, it was decided not to appeal it.

The prosecution justified its decision to recruit Finkelstein as a state witness and claimed that "state witnesses by their very nature are always part of the criminal circle, in any case the court will be exposed to his actions, and the core of the incentive for signing a state witness agreement with him was his ability to provide material evidence in real time."

The attorney's office emphasized that it rejects the claims "that the recruitment of the state witness was 'invalid and against the rules' and as they arise, they will be discussed as part of the procedure."

Finally, they mentioned, "Recently, the court approved the suspension of the proceedings against one of the defendants in the case, Michael Binyamini, who since 2019 has been staying abroad and did not show up for the investigation or the trial."

More in Walla!

Ila Hasson claims that the prosecutor's office wanted to thwart the appointment of Gal Hirsch.

We just didn't understand why

To the full article

The building in Herzliya where the "Defensive Shield" offices were located (Photo: Reuven Castro)

On behalf of Gal Hirsch, it was stated that he welcomes the court's decision to cancel the gag order on the name of the state witness in his case.

"The state's attempt to prevent the publication of the name of the state witness for a long time, in order to hide from the public the omission that was made and to avoid serious embarrassment, was rejected by a sharp and reasoned decision of the court," it was claimed, "the court's decision to expose to the light of day the name and details of the dubious state witness who was recruited In this case, it directly contributes to increasing public trust in the integrity of the legal proceedings."

"The decision to recruit the convicted felon, Gur Finkelstein, as a state witness against Gal Hirsch, shows the over eagerness and poor judgment of the state to find at any cost evidence against Hirsch for the commission of a bribery offense attributed to him, even though it did not exist and was not created, in blatant deviation from the procedures established in connection with Recruiting state witnesses, since the offenses of which Gur Finkelstein was convicted are listed in the procedures of the prosecutor's office as offenses that disqualify a person of his type from serving as a state witness," they argued.

"Soon the recruitment of the state witness failed miserably and the bribery case against Gal Hirsch was closed on the grounds of a lack of guilt. It is difficult to understand how this type of witness continues to appear even today as a 'state witness' in Gal Hirsh's tax case, which concerned events from 15 years ago."

Gur Finkelstein (Photo: Nimrod Saunders)

Gor Pinkshaltein's attorney, attorney Finney Fischler, stated that "the state's witness strongly asserts that the purpose of the request to lift the gag order on his name and identity is to divert public attention away from the seriousness of the acts attributed to Gal Hirsch in the indictment and others, and all with the aim of discrediting the state's witness and presenting it in a negative light.

"We would like to emphasize that the state witness is subject to a binding agreement that he signed and he is prohibited from being interviewed by the media under these circumstances lest the defendants abuse this. The state witness recently turned to the prosecutor's office with a detailed request to allow him to be interviewed and to address the entirety of the claims made against him. As for the past of the state witness, it will be clarified that anyone who The judge of the Supreme Court should learn and know that the State's witness was acquitted by the Supreme Court of every count that appeared and the rest were attributed to him in the original registration document.

In addition, another indictment was filed against him for other offenses committed from inside the prison while he was in custody.

This indictment is also tainted with many serious failures since all the acts attributed to him were caused during the impeachment of the state's witness by a Madih agent employed by the police and the Shin Bet.

The state witness served as one of Defensive Shield's lawyers and assisted it in its legal and business activities in Georgia. It will be clarified and submitted that there is nothing in this activity that is not kosher."

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