According to him, he decided to help Hani and he was not interested in the question of who owns the devices: "When Hani asks and she sits with a very good friend of mine, as far as I'm concerned, a friend of Hadas' is my friend. I don't care who the phones are, I want to find adultery and money, divorce proceedings... that's what interests me" (par. p. 312, paras. 15-18).
- In summary so far, the testimony of Chani, Shteif and Yuli reveals the following:
The acquaintance between Chani and Shteif was created through K.H., after which the two met at a café at the Mandarin Hotel in Tel Aviv. In this meeting, Chani shared with Shteif the details of her divorce process with Naveh and also stated that she had a number of mobile phones that were used by Naveh. Chani explained that she wanted to hack the devices in order to extract information from them that would help her in the divorce process, and asked Steif for help in locating a professional who could do so. Shteif tried to help Hani by contacting private investigators, and at the same time asked Yuli, who was present, to join the conversation. Shteif introduced Yuli as a "friend who might be able to help" in hacking the devices. After Chani shared with Yuli her desire to unlock the devices, Yuli replied that he could help her.
- According to Naveh, Yuli's presence in the café at the time of the meeting between Chani and Shteif was not coincidental. His presence was planned in advance by Shteif, who was aware of the existence of the mobile phones before the frontal meeting with Hani, and wanted Yuli to assist in breaking them in and extracting information from them.
On the other hand, according to Shteif, this was a spontaneous meeting - the meeting with Chani and the meeting with Yuli were held in the same place and at the same time, but "very coincidentally" (par. p. 193, paras. 27). According to her, her meeting with Yuli in the café took place because "he wanted me to deal with a very difficult story of a police officer who had been abused. He gave me the background to the abuse, he said that she had to be helped" (par. p. 160, paras. 32-33). At the same time, Chani came to a meeting with her. According to Shteif, "she (Hani - A.S.) I don't know who Yuli is" and when she arrived, Shteif got up "from the table I was sitting with Yuli and we sat on the side" (par. p. 161, paras. 2-3).
- When confronted with the claim that she had planned the presence of Hani and Yuli at the Mandarin Hotel's café in advance, Shteif replied as follows:
"Q. You said that you called two investigation agencies and one of the offices told you to bring him, why did you decide to bring Rosenberg? I'm telling you that you brought him in advance.
- I didn't bring him, we met.
- Why did you connect him to the incident instead of bringing it to the investigation office?
- He was there, I knew he was an investigator, I asked if he could help, he heard Hani and Hani told him the phones in this office and that, he said I would send a messenger and he would bring me the phones."
(par. p. 194, paras. 35-36, p. 195, paras. 1-4)
- Yuli also denied Naveh's claim, according to which his presence at the Mandarin Hotel to help Hani was planned in advance by Steif:
"What is she (Shteif-A.S.) Telling you?
- That we need to meet, she has information if I know that she has information that Effi is having sex with interns, I told her there are quite a few rumors about Effi, but rumors are rumors, she says I have things I know. Tell me at the opportunity, I meet with her about the matter that I need her at all about a good friend, an officer on duty in the police who is being sexually harassed by one of the officers in the district and I knew that Hadas knew the commander of the specific district so I wanted to sit with Hadas, the location was convenient for me too, the office I worked for was a meter away. Until the moment I was certified, I was registered as an intern.
- Didn't she tell you that the meeting would be with Hani Naveh?
- Absolutely not."
(par. p. 317, paras. 22-30)
- After examining the arguments of the parties and reviewing the exhibits, I am of the opinion that the versions of Shteif and Yuli in court raise real doubts, and I will explain.
First and foremost, the version presented to me by Shteif is inconsistent with her version in the police. This is a statement to the police dated January 10,2019 (P/22). According to the same statement signed by Shteif, on December 4,2018, an intern approached her who asked to "meet urgently". In the meeting between the two, the intern told her about the intimate relationship that had been formed between the intern R.K. and Naveh in exchange for assistance in the bar exams. The intern also told her about K.H., R.K.'s best friend. who had a recording of R.K. regarding her intimate relationship with Naveh. According to her, at this stage she knew a number of facts: "Sh.H. She also spoke to Effi Naveh's wife, Hani Naveh and Hani innocently told her about Effi Naveh's discarded phones at home and that she had given them to a specialist cracking store in Dizengoff... I decided to contact Hani Naveh with the understanding that I have access to women and I would like to hear from her what she has. I contacted Hani Naveh... She told me that the phones could not be used because the lab claimed that Effi Naveh had taken some step that could not be hacked and that there was nothing about them. I made several phone calls with various parties that I cannot reveal... This is how I managed to reach a person who knew me well and told me that there was no problem and that I would bring him the phones and that we could open them. On December 17,2018, I make an appointment with Hani Naveh and the other party... At the time of the meeting, the 'source' says that he will take the phones and I will be updated later and we will say goodbye" (Q. 48-46,60-59,64-61,69-67,76-75).
- As can be seen from Shteif's detailed statement to the police, she knew very well before the meeting at the café that Chani was in possession of mobile phones that were in Naveh's use. Shteif also knew that Chani wanted to "open" the devices and extract information from them. This was the motive for contacting Yuli. In other words, it was a three-stage process: in the first stage, a conversation with an "intern"; in the second stage, a proactive contact by Shteif to Chani and receiving information regarding Naveh's phones and Chani's inability to hack them; in the third stage, the three-way meeting at the Mandarin Hotel.
Thus, according to Shteif's earlier version at the police, she planned the tripartite meeting in advance: Hani-Shteif-July. The purpose of the meeting was to extract the information from the phones that Naveh had left behind. The conclusion is that Shteif's statement to the police regarding the circumstances that preceded her meeting with Hani contradicts her version in the cross-examination in court on the same matter.
- A certain reinforcement for the fact that the tripartite meeting at the Mandarin Hotel was not a spontaneous meeting arises from Steif's version in court. According to this version, in a meeting between Steif and Hani, the latter shared with her an attempt to hack the devices and extract information from them through SpyShop. This attempt failed after Moti Golan, from the Spy Shop, informed her that "the lab is not busy." Therefore, Hani sought assistance in the matter of hacking the devices. In order to help her, Shteif turned to two private investigators and finally to Yuli, who agreed to assist (par. p. 226, paras. 12-20; par. p. 161, paras. 35-36, p. 162, paras. 3-1,13-5; par. p. 309, s. 29-30, p. 312, s. 15). This version indicates a complex and ongoing event. If Yuli, Shteif's close acquaintance and the owner of the abilities was present at the same place (the café), why did Shteif turn to third parties to break into the phones? If so, this version is more consistent with Steif's first version at the police, according to which the information was given to her in a preliminary phone call with Hani, following which the meeting at the Mandarin Hotel was scheduled.
This conclusion fits in with Chani's statement of August 15,2019 to the police (P/31). According to the statement given by Hani: ")Shteif - A.S.) She texted me that she was in North Tel Aviv next to me and that she would be happy to meet me and wrote me "even you should do it" and then I met her in Mandarin. When I got to the hotel, I saw that she and a guy named Yuli were sitting there. She told me that he was helping her."
- In general, versions that were delivered in real time should be preferred, as they usually reflect the full and true picture, before they are redesigned. In contrast, suppressed and later versions, which were formulated retroactively, may be influenced by extraneous considerations or by the desire to protect various interests. Therefore, their evidentiary weight is reduced (Criminal Appeal 421/71 Mimran v. State of Israel, IsrSC 26(1) 281,287 (1972); Liquidations (Jerusalem District) 1363-03-18 Talmud Torah Association v. Tukchinsky Paragraph 83 (Nevo 17.12.2024)). Hani and Shteif's statements to the police were submitted with the consent of the parties and were cross-examined. Shteif even confirmed that she stood behind the statements she gave to the police (para. p. 171, para. 35). These are preliminary and "fresh" versions that were given close to the events taking place.
In addition, Shteif's notice was given against the background of her understanding that her request for immunity would be examined positively (para. p. 190, paras. 23-28). Shteif also explained that at the time she did not imagine that she would be sued in a civil proceeding by Naveh in the future. This is what emerged from her testimony before me: