Court Orders Journalist Hadas Steif to Pay Efi Naveh NIS 475,000

The Central District Court in Lod ruled on Monday that journalist Hadas Steif and Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) must pay NIS 475,000 in compensation to Efi Naveh, the former head of the Israel Bar Association. Judge Oren Schwartz determined that Steif was primarily responsible for a severe invasion of Naveh's privacy through her involvement in hacking his mobile phones and extracting personal information, which led to the "sex-for-appointments" investigation.

Although Steif did not perform the hacking herself, the court found her to be the central figure, having initiated and mediated between Naveh's ex-wife and the hacker. The court stated that Steif validated the extraction of password-protected information. She was denied protections under the privacy law due to her illegal actions and breach of journalistic ethics, as the law prohibits journalists from participating in offenses while claiming legal immunity.

Claims against other Galei Tzahal journalists, including Razi Barkai, Nurit Kanti, Ilail Shahar, and Shimon Elcabetz, were dismissed. The court found they acted in good faith and within their journalistic duties when publishing truthful information of public importance. Proceedings against Elcabetz had previously been halted with Naveh's consent.

Steif was ordered to pay NIS 450,000 for the privacy infringement, a sum for which Galei Tzahal bears vicarious liability. The court emphasized that media organizations are responsible for their journalists' actions in their professional capacity to uphold free investigative journalism. Additionally, Steif must pay NIS 25,000 separately for calling Naveh an "ash worm" on social media.