Israeli Registrar Rebuked for Comparing Litigant's Speech to Hamas Fire
An Israeli small-claims court registrar was rebuked by the judicial ombudsman after telling a fast-talking litigant that he was "shooting like Hamas." The ombudsman ruled the complaint justified, criticizing the offensive comparison.
A small-claims court registrar in Israel has faced harsh criticism after comparing a litigant's rapid speech to Hamas fire during a court hearing. The incident came to light following a complaint submitted to the Ombudsman for the Judiciary, Justice Asher Grunis, who ruled the grievance justified.
The altercation occurred when a man appeared in court representing his son, the designated defendant in the case. According to the complaint, the registrar made the inappropriate remark after struggling to interrupt the man's fast-paced monologue, which she claimed prevented both the court and opposing counsel from speaking.
In her response to the ombudsman, the registrar apologized for her choice of words while strongly denying she had called the man a Nazi or acted out of bias regarding his religious background or ethnicity. She explained that she had returned to work that very day following a week-long absence due to COVID-19 and was suffering from physical weakness. She noted that the court stenographer was unable to keep up with the pace.
"Wait, sir, you are still speaking too quickly, the stenographer cannot keep up, you are shooting like Hamas," she reportedly told the litigant. The registrar emphasized that she apologized immediately during the session and reiterated her remorse in writing to the ombudsman, admitting the complaint was warranted on that specific ground.
Addressing the lack of audio recording for the session, the registrar stated she believed the procedural stop would be brief and maintained that no strict legal obligation required recording at that preliminary stage. However, she noted that following the incident, she has instituted a practice of recording all proceedings in her courtroom.
Ombudsman Asher Grunis accepted her explanation regarding the lack of recording, concluding there was no intentional misconduct. Nevertheless, he severely criticized the verbal comparison, writing that "comparing a person's speech flow to Hamas gunfire is an unnecessary, offensive, and outrageous comparison that has no place, especially given Hamas's identity as a murderous terrorist organization."
Alongside the reprimand, the ombudsman commended the registrar for issuing multiple apologies during and after the hearing. Ultimately, the oversight authority sustained the complaint concerning the offensive remark.
