Zvi Segal served as a judge for 33 years, including over 20 years as a district court judge and a decade and a half of them as the head of the Serious Crimes Unit. Judge Segal has now published an autobiographical book “Springs and deserts of my life” (199 p., Yediot Books Publishing).
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The book is fluid and fascinating. It is very unusual and perhaps unprecedented for a judge to write a book that deals extensively with his judicial career and the foundational events during it. Despite his very visible love for the Israeli justice system, which is well reflected in the book, and despite his desire to defend the workplace that was an integral part of his life, Segal also criticizes significant events that happened in the system. It is true that these claims do him a favor personally, but at the end of the book he makes a poignant and moving criticism of himself as well – so, in my opinion, honesty should be attributed to his words and importance to his claims.
Zvi Segal / Photo: Rafi Kotz
Supreme Court Judge Noam Solberg wrote in his short introduction to the book that “Judge Segal was known as a ‘perfectionist’ in his judicial work. Against this background, his beating for the sin of totality, Martita – things that come from the heart, enter the heart – is an important lesson for many.”
In his book, Segal refers to highly publicized and sensitive cases he discusses, including the murder of Judge Adi Azar, the Elor Azaria case, the libel suit of Natan Sharansky, Daniel Maoz who is accused of murdering his two parents, the Iranian steward case, as well as his decision to accept the petition of arch-terrorist Samir Kuntar.
away from sunlight
Segal also refers to two plots that stuck with him. One of them was proven to be a plot, when it was accused by attorney Roni Aloni Sadovnik that with his encouragement, an order was given to a minor rape victim to kneel down and demonstrate the rape that had been committed on her. “.
The second plot concerns his friends on the bench in the district court in Be’er Sheva and even the president of the court. Evidence for his claims is no longer presented here, because in fact the affair was never seriously clarified. This is a set of different and complex claims, it will be shortened to describe it here. In any case, the fact is that following the affair Segal was forced to move to the District Court in Jerusalem. Reading this chapter, formulated by Segal gently and in a minimalist way, reminds us all that judges are also human beings, and whether Segal is right in his claims or whether his colleagues were right – not all of them are necessarily worthy human beings. No less disturbing is the fact that this serious affair was swept under the judicial carpet and waited for five years after Segal’s retirement for the public to hear about it for the first time from his mouth, or as Segal wrote: “Clearing my name with legal tools was not on the agenda. Not then and not now. I never wanted to poison You are the well that is very dear to me. So I swallowed the bitter pill.”
This approach of closing serious issues within the system away from sunlight or alternatively swallowing bitter pills – in my opinion, it itself poisons the well which will be dear to all of us. Reality shows that swallowing bitter pills did not lead to much confidence in the judicial system, to say the least. To paraphrase the well-known proverb, justice should not only be seen on the outside like a shop window, justice should first and foremost be done.
The insult of overturning a judgment
Another interesting point is the sense of insult that Segal describes when he sat in the Magistrate’s Court in Dimona and the appeals court overturned his verdict regarding a construction offense in the Bedouin sector. The district court wrote that according to Segal’s approach “all members of the tribe should have been put in prison and not just the appellant”. Segal describes the insult and the personal harm he felt, and that in his opinion one should not express himself that way towards any judge, especially a rookie judge. “A little kindness and a constructive comment is absolutely enough,” he wrote. He states that at the time he sent a letter to the President of the Magistrate’s Court protesting the conduct of the district judges and states that he even considered sending a letter to the President of the Supreme Court at the time.
On the one hand, this is the beauty of the book which describes his feelings, thoughts and actions in an authentic manner. On the other hand, unless Judge Segal was very unusual in the landscape – this illustrates the absurdity of judges sitting as an appellate court on judgments of their peers. A judge cannot discuss a case in which he is related to one of the parties or their representatives or even witnesses. A judge can also hear an appeal against a judgment written by his best friend. The fact that Judge Segal remembers the same ruling of the district court that was given no less than 36 (!) years ago, raises questions about the issue. As mentioned, judges are human beings. And like any human being, no one wants to have their judgments overturned. A judge is measured by his judgments. The review by an appeals court has consequences and significance, on the judge’s promotion horizon and first and foremost on his respect and appreciation towards him. Should we believe that this fact does not have any effect that could bias the law or at the very least there is an injury to the semblance of justice? It turns out that your faithful servant and the presidents of the Supreme Court for generations are divided on the issue. I would allow myself to estimate that the public tends to the opinion of the uneducated writer of this column.
“Zvika, the subscription is closed”
Finally, I will refer to another story presented in the book. Judge Segal applied in 2013 for the position of State Attorney. As we know, the person who won the position was Shai Nitzan. So far it is legitimate, no one owes anything to a staff judge, and beyond that it is clear that a person who ends up outside the prosecutor’s office has a lower chance of winning the position of state attorney who is responsible for the entire prosecutor’s office. But according to Segal, “the game was probably fixed in advance as I was warned, and Shai Nitzan was chosen for the role.” How can a district judge, a vice president, be silent and leave such a claim publicly only for his autobiographical book in 2022? I will be surprised. By the way, his claim that the very fact that Shai Nitzan was chosen shows that the tender was probably rigged, but filled, is a bit strange.
In any case, Segal also describes the process of running for the position of president of the District Court in Jerusalem a decade ago. “Long before the meeting of the search committee, I learned that a very senior figure in the Jerusalem Bar Association committee approached two judges in the city’s district court and advised them not to submit their candidacy for the presidency since the appointment was ‘closed’. I was angry, to say the least. During an event held at the Bar Association, he approached me A senior lawyer told me that he heard that I was angry at his words.” Segal adds and describes that the same lawyer “looked straight into my eyes and said without hesitation: ‘Zvika, the appointment is closed.’ He agreed with me, but his agreement did not change anything.” Well, Segal didn’t win the role.
what do they say They don’t say, it turns out, but swallow another bitter pill and move on. And this is what our non-national poet already said: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” We hear about it for the first time at the end of 2022, a decade after that event, in an autobiographical book, when not only Segal had already retired a long time ago but also the president-elect retired a long time ago and now the president who replaced him is also retiring. better late than never. Recommended reading.