The Israel Police seemed to be leaning this weekend toward summoning Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to give evidence in the case of former Israel Bar Association Chairman Effi Naveh, who is suspected of trading influence in the judicial selection process for sexual favors.
Shaked, as justice minister, worked closely with Naveh on the Judicial Selection Committee.
A senior official in the legal system said he expected more summons to be issued.
"The concern is that that judges, ministers, and other legal officials with links to the Judicial Selection Committee will be called in to give evidence over the next few days, the official said, stressing that this did not mean there were additional suspects in the case at this time.
"The system is constructed so that at these levels, there is basic faith in certain norms," the official said.
"It is impossible to oversee and monitor every one of the gatekeepers. It's obvious that the affair will require deep digging into the legal system, and the application of checks and balances so keep scandals like this from happening," he said.
The official expressed support for Shaked, saying she was uninvolved with the scandal.
"Even though the 'alliance' between Shaked and Naveh [on the committee] is well-known, it was a political one. Shaked couldn't know why Naveh wanted to promote one candidate or another. She is certainly uninvolved in the affair," he said.
The scope of the investigation continues to broaden. The police have a few cellular devices that belong to Naveh. Prior to his arrest, the devices were handed over to a judge, who determined what part of their content (messages, emails) was relevant to the case. The police already have a transcript of some of Naveh's correspondences, which they received from Army Radio police reporter Hadas Shtaif and which provided the impetus for the investigation.
Naveh is suspected of promoting a female lawyer to the magistrates' court bench in exchange for sex, and promising to promote a magistrates' court judge to the district bench in exchange for sex with the judge's wife, who is also a practicing lawyer. Both women, who were arrested last week and questioned twice by police at the Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit, deny the allegations. They were each assigned to house arrest.
On Sunday, the lawyer and the judge were due to complete their mandated five days of house arrest. As of Sunday morning, police did not plan to request their house arrest to be extended.
Meanwhile, Israel Hayom has learned that Naveh's wife was reportedly unaware of the content extracted from his phone and his alleged actions. Sources close to Mrs. Naveh told Israel Hayom that she was "shocked" at what she had learned from the reports about the scandal.
Officials involved in the investigation told Israel Hayom that the Israel Police conducted an undercover investigation into Naveh, which yielded email correspondence and testimonies about his alleged actions. The decision last week to arrest him came after investigators learned that Naveh and some of his associates were allegedly trying to interfere with the investigation. When his office was raided, more cellular devices belonging to Naveh, as well as his computer and various documents, were seized. Investigators were in the process of reviewing them.
Police investigators are still trying to establish a "pattern of behavior" by Naveh that would prove the allegations against him.
On Friday, police questioned an intern with whom Naveh had an affair. According to the material obtained by police, Naveh allegedly promised to help the intern with her bar exam in exchange for "romantic" favors. Apparently, Naveh did not carry through on his promises to get her a copy of the bar exam ahead of time, but he did reportedly arrange an unusual time extension for her. The intern still failed the exam.
The intern refused to hand her phone over to the police, arguing that doing so would be a violation of her privacy. After her attorney, Sharon Nahari, appealed to the police, the Tel Aviv District Court ruled that a female detective would review the content of the intern's phone and submit it to a judge, who would decide whether or not it is relevant to the investigation.
On Sunday, the Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court was scheduled to discuss whether or not to lift the gag order on the identities of the additional suspects in the case and allow their names to be published.
