Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein authorized Monday the questioning of Supreme Court Justice Yoram Danziger "under caution." The move marks the first time an Israeli Supreme Court judge will be questioned under such circumstances.
Weinstein authorized the police to initiate proceedings to look into the circumstances under which the Bat Yam Municipality hired attorneys and Danziger's firm at that, before he was appointed to judge. The Supreme Court president and the judge's representatives were notified accordingly.
As part of the investigation and examination of the matter known as the Lahiani Affair, the police took Judge Danziger's statement.
After examining Danziger's statement, the attorney general decided that clarifications were needed of the judge's account of the circumstances that lead to the employment of his firm by the Bat Yam Municipality, and of legal services he provided to Bat Yam Mayor Shlomo Lahiani, while still a private attorney before his appointment as judge, and of the legality of the relationship between the two.
Furthermore, the attorney general determined that Judge Danziger is to be questioned under caution. Weinstein clarified that once the investigation is concluded, police and prosecutors intends to expedite the handling of the affair in order to form an opinion and reach a decision on the matter in the near future.
Earlier, Danziger notified Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish that he would take a leave of absence as of Monday in order to facilitate the investigation. A Supreme Court justice taking a leave of absence on the backdrop of a police investigation and possible criminal charges - though required - is nonetheless heavy blow to Israel's legal system.
As part of the current investigation, police are investigating an alleged payment of NIS 823,000 ($240,000) Danziger had received from the Bat-Yam municipality for legal services between 2005-2007 – a period in which Lahiani and Danziger were partners in a land purchase in the Sharon region.
Furthermore, according to documents in the possession of the police, Danziger held in trusteeship Lahiani's shares in local newspaper network Gal Gefen. He even represented the mayor when the latter transferred his account from Mizrahi bank to Union Bank after which the municipality opened an account in the same bank.
Judge Danziger, 57, was appointed to the Supreme Court after working in the private sector - an atypical appointment as most Supreme Court judges come from district courts, senior government advocacy positions, or academia.
Recently Danziger deferred the sentence of former President Moshe Katsav on the grounds that his appeal was not unfounded.