Hashalom Court
Hashalom CourtFlash 90

Tiberias' Hashalom Court on Sunday approved a request by Israel Police to demand Israeli media hand over all materials relating to January's Migdal murder case, in which Nadav Selah was accused of murdering his wife, two children, and neighbor 11-year-old Nachman Atia in the northern town of Migdal.

The unprecedented move would allow Israel Police to investigate the gag order violation which was perpetrated by Israeli media outlets. Police will demand all available materials from most Israeli media, who they claim publicized details of the murder before legally being allowed to do so.

Tiberias Judge Nir Mishorei Lev-Tov wrote in his order that the media outlets should immediately "send all materials relating to their broadcast of the Migdal murder case which are dated from 6:28pm on the day of the murder until the day after the murder occurred."

The purpose of the investigation would be to discover which media outlet publicized the details first. Presumably, the first publication caused other media outlets to believe the gag order had been lifted.

Senior media officials sharply criticized the court's move, claiming the murder's details were "clear" and therefore "there was no reason to comply with the gag order."