The case involved investigators from Lahav 433 and the Coastal District of the Israeli Police who had seized a suspect's phone. Initially, an agreement was reached allowing police to retain the device until 2026, but after two months, the suspect requested its return. He argued that his store had been broken into and robbed, and without his phone, he couldn't access his business's security system.

At first, police agreed to return the device but later reversed their position. When the suspect's attorneys petitioned the court for the phone's release, police submitted an official response citing two "sections of law" supposedly supporting their position. During the hearing, however, the defense attorney made a startling claim, "I suspect the police response was taken from ChatGPT. The quoted law sections don't exist."

Following this accusation, the police representative acknowledged the error, "My colleague is correct. We retract our statement. What was quoted is incorrect. Whoever wrote this did so in good faith, by mistake. We admit there was an error."

The judge expressed harsh criticism in his ruling, "If I thought I had seen everything in my 30 years on the bench, I was apparently mistaken." He added that the police had humiliated themselves and noted that "one of those 'laws' didn't even exist in anyone's imagination until now, as searching for its wording on the internet using search engines like Google doesn't produce any matching results."

Ultimately, the judge devised a practical solution. The suspect would provide police with a new, empty phone, and police would transfer all content from the original device to it. This arrangement would allow the device itself to remain with police for investigation purposes while enabling the suspect to access information vital to his business.

The Israeli Police stated in response, "The answer was written contrary to standard procedure, therefore the commander of the unit in charge of the investigation has ordered an inquiry and will take steps to prevent similar incidents in the future."

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The Israel Police Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit (Yahav 433) detained a former district court president and a lawyer for questioning on Tuesday on suspicion of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. They were being brought in for interrogation at the Yahav 433 offices on Tuesday morning.

The two suspects are former Tel Aviv District Court Judge Eitan Orenstein and former Israel Bar Association Efi Nave, who, according to the Haaretz report, were involved in the alleged conspiracy under which Nave would have certain judges preside over specific cases and have his cronies promoted to judicial appointments,  in exchange for having Orenstein being tapped to the position of court president.

הנחקרים בלהב 433: אפי נווה ונשיא בית המשפט המחוזי לשעבר איתן אורנשטיין עוכבו לחקירה pic.twitter.com/JzJ9MEor1z

— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) May 28, 2024

The Israel Police launched the investigation in the wake of reports by Haaretz that two months ago showing that therer was an alleged kickback scheme between the judge while he was serving on the bench, and the prominent lawyer.

Officers from the unit arrived at the suspects' homes, conducted searches, and detained them for questioning at the Yahav 433 offices.

The post Former judge, Israel Bar Association chief detained after major bribery allegations appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

As a result of the officer's efforts, dozens of suspects were arrested on Tuesday morning in various cities in central Israel as police transitioned "Operation 217" from its covert phase, which spanned a period of more than one year.

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The undercover agent, a major in the IDF reserves, was given a cover story and false identity as a criminal and underwent months-long training and preparation for the mission. At a certain phase of the operation, he began forming connections with criminal elements in central Israel.

After sufficient evidence was gathered during the covert phase of the operations, dozens of detectives and Border Police officers launched the wave of arrests.

The undercover IDF officer engaged in drug and weapons deals and purchased an explosive device, guns, a grenade and large quantities of cocaine and ecstasy pills from various dealers.

Deputy Commissioner Yigal Ben-Shalom, who commands the Israel Police's elite Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit, also known as "Israel's FBI," said: "Running undercover agents undermines the confidence of criminals in their immediate environments."

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