A Tel Aviv traffic court judge has partially accepted former public figure Limor Livnat’s claim of “defense of justice” and ordered the removal of the most serious post-crash allegations from her indictment. Judge Shani Stern of the Tel Aviv, Bat Yam Traffic Court ruled that four counts tied to leaving the scene of an accident, failing to render aid, and failing to provide details must be deleted.
The case stems from a July 2023 crash on Haim Levanon Street in Tel Aviv. According to the indictment, Livnat drove into a parked trailer, maneuvered forward and backward and hit it again, then reversed and slammed into another car with force. That collision caused a complex fracture in the other driver’s hand and required surgery. The original charge sheet also alleged that Livnat did not stop, did not help and did not leave identifying details, but instead drove off, triggering a chain-reaction crash involving several vehicles and drivers.
Livnat’s attorney, Yigal Tamir, argued that she had never been questioned under caution about hit-and-run or failure-to-provide-details offenses. The police materials filed with the court showed that, four days after the accident, the investigating officer confronted her only with careless driving, failure to maintain distance, causing damage and injury, and reckless driving. She was never asked why she left the scene or why she did not help.
Stern sharply criticized the prosecution, saying these offenses “appeared to come into the world” only when the indictment was drafted about 20 months after the crash. She rejected the state’s argument that a general right to counsel was enough, stressing that specific suspicions had to be put to Livnat. The judge said the charges required proof of intent or awareness and that the failure to let Livnat present her version close to the event seriously harmed her defense and reputation. Livnat will still stand trial on the driving and injury charges for which she was properly questioned.
