Israeli Media Fail in Appeal Against Nir Hefetz-Keren Sidkovsky Gag Order

Transcript of hearing appealing Hefetz gag order

להורדה: הפרוטוקול החסוי המלא מדיון בית המשפט בפרשת חפץ – סידקובסקי

I recently posted about a State witness in the Netanyahu corruption investigation, Nir Hefetz. Israeli police, in pressuring him to testify against his former boss, brought Hefetz’ mistress to the police station. It was a shot across the bow, conveying to him that the police would use every method at their disposal to compel his testimony; including exposing his infidelity (Hefetz is married and has children).

The Netanyahu camp had a field day with this news, bellowing that the police used impermissible abusive procedures to force Hefetz to cooperate. There was also an underlying subtext intended to smear Hefetz as a witness by revealing his breach of trust with his wife. In other words, Hefetz not only betrayed his wife, he betrayed the prime minister as well.

Keren Sidkovsky, Nir Hefetz’s mistress

Normally, most journalists don’t care about married men and their mistresses. But when it comes to a key witness who could seal the fate of an Israeli prime minister, all bets are off. That’s why I published the name and picture of Keren Sidkovsky. Almost every journalist in Israel knows this name. But the gag order prohibits them from reporting it.

Earlier today, three major Israeli newspapers (Haaretz, Globes and Israel HaYom) went to court again seeking to persuade the judge to end the gag order. After listening to arguments from attorneys for both sides and from Hefetz himself, the judge rejected the appeal and extended the gag. My reporting surfaced peripherally in the argument as a reason to end the gag.

I’ve been bemused by Israelis who condemn me for violating the privacy of a “poor young woman” who did nothing to deserve her 15 minutes of notoriety. On the contrary, she chose to commence an affair with the prime minister’s chief media advisor, who then became embroiled in one of the most notorious scandals in recent Israeli history. The police and Netanyahu’s camp made her part of the story. If you want to blame anyone, blame them.

Hefetz’s argument to the judge was unbelievably hypocritical: he rejected the argument that the horses had already escaped from the barn by claiming that his elderly parents in their 80s would receive a mortal blow if they learned this news. His poor mother taking heart medication might have a heart attack on learning that her dear-boy was fooling around with a 20-something model behind his wife’s back. Not to mention his valiant son, fighting in “the most exclusive of exclusive IDF units” to defend the homeland, who knew nothing of his dad’s peccadillos. While his son was “the tip of the spear” protecting the nation, his father’s blood was being spilled by this scandal, or so Hefetz claimed.

Perhaps Nir should have thought of those considerations before he commenced his affair with Sidkovsky. To raise them now solely to protect him from further infamy is the height of hypocrisy. It is shameful for a grown man to cower behind his elderly parents and son and exploit them in this manner, rather than face the foolish deeds he has done. He’s a bit like the son convicted of murdering his parents who begs mercy from the court because he’s now an orphan.

I am violating the gag order in publishing this post. Additionally, I’m violating it by publishing the full transcript of the judicial proceedings in today’s hearing.