It should be noted that in circumstances in which a defendant decides to give his version of the events that are the subject of the indictment from the witness stand, after he remained silent at the interrogation stage, his silence is likely to impair the credibility of his testimony. See Criminal Appeal 230/84 Hagbi v. State of Israel, IsrSC 39(1) 785, 789:
"The appellant remained silent all along and refused to respond to any response and to give any explanation for all the events and all the material presented to him by his police interrogators. He also did not present any version in court until the prosecution's evidence was concluded. Indeed, the defendant has the right to remain silent. However, since he remained silent where an explanation was requested, his silence is not consistent with his expectations that he would be believed, when he first presented his version at the stage of the defense's testimony. When a defendant claims absolute innocence, and is confronted by his police interrogators with material attesting to his involvement in the crime, how can he expect to be believed, if he refrains from keeping his interrogators' eyes open when they hurl at him the facts that are known to them from his accomplice and that complicate him in all of those same offenses? In such circumstances, his silence is sufficient to support the prosecution's testimonies."
It should be emphasized that in certain circumstances, when a suspect is presented with a fact that requires immediate denial and he chooses to maintain the right to remain silent, his silence may constitute complicating behavior with independent evidentiary power, and may even serve as evidence of assistance. However, if the suspect provides a reasonable explanation for his silence at the interrogation stage, this silence may lose its power as evidence of his duty (Kedmi on the Evidence, Part Two, Combined and Updated Edition, 2003, pp. 714-715). This does not in the least impair the suspect's right to remain silent during his interrogation, as determined in Criminal Appeal Authority 3445/01 Elmaliah v. State of Israel, IsrSC 56(2) 865: