Supreme Court judge questioned as potential criminal suspect

Police questioned Supreme Court judge Yoram Danziger under caution for seven hours on Thursday about his relationship with Bat Yam Mayor Shlomi Lahiani, who is currently under investigation for alleged corruption and bribery.

Police questioned Danziger at a police station in central Israel, marking the first time in Israeli history that a Supreme Court judge has been questioned as a potential suspect in a criminal matter.

Danziger was Lahiani's attorney for more than 20 years, during which time he also represented the Bat Yam municipality. Police suspect that the municipality employed Danziger while he served as Lahiani's personal attorney, and that the two had shared business interests as well. Danziger represented Lahiani in a number of business matters before he was appointed as a Supreme Court justice.

Investigators apparently did not accuse Danziger of specific crimes, but questioned him about cases in which he allegedly received large sums of money from Lahiani without official documentation.

Danziger has already testified twice in the Lahiani investigation, but Thursday's interrogation was the first time he was questioned as a potential suspect in the case. Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein on Tuesday granted police permission to probe Danziger's ties to Lahiani, including the circumstances of his appointment as Bat Yam's attorney once Lahiani was already in office.

Maj. Gen. Yoav Segalovich, head of the police Investigations and Intelligence Division, sought Weinstein’s permission to investigate Danziger based on the information police gathered from Danziger’s first two testimonies.

The investigation was originally conducted by the Israel Police’s National Fraud Unit, but when police realized that financial issues formed the crux of their investigation, the case was transferred to the National Unit to Combat Economic Crime.

Police have already decided to press charges against Lahiani. Segalovich is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether or not to recommend that Danziger be charged as well.

Brig. Gen. Avi Neuman led Thursday’s investigation. Investigators apparently showed Danziger evidence that in some cases he collected earnings for his services without issuing receipts. Police also asked Danziger to explain the transfer of hundreds of thousands of shekels to him in cases in which they said he was minimally involved.

Shortly before the attorney general's announcement that Danziger would be questioned, the judge informed Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch of his decision to take an immediate leave of absence to allow for the completion of the investigation.

Danziger’s lawyer, Ram Caspi, had no comment on the case.

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