Court Orders Journalist Hadas Steif to Pay Efi Naveh Hundreds of Thousands of Shekels
Translated & summarized from Maariv by baba
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Journalist Hadas Steif must pay NIS 475,000 to Efi Naveh.
- Steif was found primarily responsible for accessing Naveh's phone data.
- Galei Tzahal is vicariously liable for Steif's actions.
- The court cited illegal and unethical conduct by Steif.
- Naveh's privacy was severely violated by the phone breach.
- Steif also faces a penalty for a defamatory Facebook post.
The Tel Aviv District Court has ruled that journalist Hadas Steif must compensate former Israel Bar Association head Efi Naveh with hundreds of thousands of shekels. The court found Steif primarily responsible for accessing Naveh's mobile phones, even though she did not personally breach them. She was deemed responsible because she initiated the action and acted as an intermediary between Naveh's ex-wife, who had the phones, and the individual who actually accessed them. Steif also confirmed the extraction of information from Naveh's password-protected phones.
The court determined that Steif was not entitled to protections under privacy laws because her actions in obtaining the phone data were illegal and unethical. The ruling stated that a journalist cannot assist in an offense to obtain information and simultaneously claim privacy protections. Consequently, Steif was found liable for a severe violation of Naveh's privacy.
The court emphasized that the main privacy violation stemmed from the breach of the phones, the extraction of their contents, and the review of personal information, rather than from a news broadcast Steif made about Naveh's police investigation and conduct. For this privacy violation, Steif was ordered to pay Naveh NIS 450,000.
Additionally, the court held Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) vicariously liable for Steif's actions, as she was acting within her role as its investigative reporter, even if her conduct was improper. The court reasoned that holding media organizations vicariously liable for investigative journalists' actions helps protect free and strong investigative journalism. Steif was also ordered to pay Naveh an additional NIS 25,000 for a Facebook post in which she called him "garbage worm."
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