Journalist Hadas Shtaif Seeks Public Donations to Pay Efi Nave Damages
Journalist Hadas Shtaif launched a public fundraising campaign to pay heavy damages to former Bar Association head Efi Nave following a landmark privacy lawsuit. Shtaif criticized the state for abandoning her.
Nearly eight years after the Efi Nave phone hacking scandal erupted, veteran investigative journalist Hadas Shtaif is turning to the public for financial assistance. Shtaif, who was ordered by a court to pay hundreds of thousands of shekels in damages to the former head of the Israel Bar Association, published a social media post asking for crowdfunding support. Shtaif, who maintained that she acted within her journalistic duties, sharply criticized the state, which she claims abandoned her during the lengthy legal proceedings.
The affair began in January 2019 with the breach of mobile phones belonging to Efi Nave and the exposure of personal content from them. The information extracted led to broadcasts and the investigation of the "appointments for sex" affair, which shook the Israeli legal system. While the criminal investigations into the phone breach and the main affair were eventually closed due to low prospects of conviction, Nave filed a civil lawsuit seeking seven million shekels for invasion of privacy.
The Central District Court partially accepted the lawsuit, ruling that Shtaif and the state must jointly and severally pay Nave 450,000 shekels in damages. Additionally, Shtaif was ordered to pay 25,000 shekels over a Facebook post. With legal expenses and attorney fees included, the total amount stands at approximately 600,000 shekels. The court distinguished Shtaif's role from other journalists, noting that she was the primary instigator and mediator who initiated the phone breach.
Faced with severe financial consequences and the threat of execution office attachments, Shtaif launched a crowdfunding campaign. "I tried to avoid this and thought justice would prevail, but I was wrong," she wrote, expressing bitterness toward the state. Shtaif emphasized that her actions were part of her professional reporting work, much like previous high-profile investigations she led over a 35-year career, concluding that she now has to bear the heavy financial burden alone.
