| In the Supreme Court |
Criminal Appeal Authority 83664-02-26
| Before: | The Honorable President Yitzhak Amit The Honorable Judge Alex Stein The Honorable Judge Khaled Kabub |
| The Applicant: | Omri Essenheim |
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Against
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| Respondents: | 1. Israel Police – LHAB 433
2. Jonathan Urich 3. Israel Broadcasting Corporation 4. Press and Media Council in Israel 5. The Association of Journalists in Israel |
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Application for leave to appeal against the decisions of the Central District Court of Lod (the Honorable Judge S. Geller) in another appeal 79314-01-26 of February 17,2026 and February 24,2026
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| Date of Meeting: | 12 Nissan 5786 (30.3.2026)
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| On behalf of the applicant:
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Adv. Liat Bergman; Adv. Dana Tal |
| On behalf of Respondent 1:
On behalf of respondent 2: On behalf of Respondent 3: On behalf of Respondent 4: On behalf of Respondent 5: |
Adv. Yair Hamoudot; Adv. Adi Arad; Adv. Yael Ben Shmuel
Adv. Amit Hadad; Adv. Noa Milstein Adv. Yoram Muskat; Adv. Orian Eshkoli Yahalom Adv. Amit Gurevich Adv. Amir Basha |
Judgment
President Yitzhak Amit:
What is the scope of the application of Article 43 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Arrest and Search) [New Version], 5729-1969 (hereinafter: The Command), in relation to journalistic materials?; And does journalistic privilege also apply in relation to the content of the information where the identity of the source is known? These are the questions before us.
Application for Leave to Appeal the Decisions of the Central-Lod District Court (Judge S. Geller) In another appeal 79314-01-26 [Nevo] from February 17,2026 and February 24,2026, in which the Applicant's appeal against the decision of the Magistrate's Court in Rishon Lezion (the President) was rejected M. Mizrahi) In another order 33800-01-26 and other order 57183-01-26 [Nevo] As of January 25,2026.
The Background Required
- On December 22-24,2025, the Kan 11 TV channel broadcast three episodes of an interview given by Eliezer Feldstein (hereinafter: Feldstein) to the applicant, the journalist Omri Essenheim (hereinafter: The Interview andEssenheim respectively). In a nutshell, it should be noted that the interview touched, inter alia, to an investigation that was opened at the end of 2024, in which the suspicion that Respondent No. 2, Yonatan Urich (hereinafter: Urich), and Feldstein illegally gave a secret piece to Israel Einhorn in order for the latter to publish it in the German newspaper Bild (hereinafter: The Bild Affair). In addition, during the interview, Feldstein said that he met with Tzachi Braverman, the prime minister's chief of staff, at an urgent night meeting in his car at the Kirya parking lot, which dealt with the investigation of the Bild affair (hereinafter: The Night Meeting Affair). Following the interview, an investigation was opened with respondent 1 (hereinafter: The Police) regarding the affair of the night meeting.
The Ottoman Settlement [Old Version] 19162. On January 12,2026, Urich filed a request with the Magistrate's Court by virtue of the Article 43 to order the seizure and receipt of all the raw material that was the basis of the interview, in view of Urich's direct interest in the materials as a suspect in the Bild affair; and on the assumption that the edited interview does not reflect the full details provided by Feldstein. On January 20,2026, the police also filed a similar request, in which it was claimed that the requested raw material would be used as investigative material, processed and analyzed by the police, and if necessary, would also be handed over to the defense. It should be noted that the Press and Media Council in Israel and the Association of Journalists in Israel were joined to the proceeding as "friends of the court".