Tel Aviv district court Judge David Rozen appeared today on a panel at the Israel Bar Association conference in Eilat, and addressed the Holyland affair, which he recently ruled on. “Everything I had to say, I wrote, so if required to add anything, I say that I am at peace with what I wrote,” said Rozen
Regarding the criticism of his ruling and the severity of the sentence, Rozen said, “I try to take the criticism in good spirits. I don’t take it personally, and I did not perceive it as a personal attack. It is ok to criticize, it is absolutely fine.”
When asked whether he regrets using the word “traitor” in Ehud Olmert’s sentence - for which he received strong criticism - Rozen replied: “Do you really think that in a case like this one I thought about and made peace with every single word I wrote? Everything that passes through a judge’s hands - people will rarely agree with, and, therefore, even when they don’t agree, I listen, and read, and respond to criticism with great respect. I hear things that are uncomfortable for me to hear, and they are reasonable things. I am completely at peace with what I wrote.”
Rozen went on to say, “Every judge has his sensitivities. There are judges who are driven mad by property rights, others by violence. The same goes for acquittal and conviction. There are judges who have an easier time convicting than acquitting, and vice versa. There is a judge I know who has a hard time acquitting, but I am actually a judge who rather likes acquitting. Whenever it is possible to acquit, I like to acquit, so I am at peace with what I wrote. I wrote everything I had to say. A lot of the criticism is certainly difficult for me to hear, but I respect it.
“With all due respect to my ego, I try to set my ego aside and to respond to the things that are said. There are also reasonable things. 99% of people don’t know the facts, and they read the criticism, and I don’t like that someone who doesn’t know the facts reads only the criticism, but I respect it.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 28, 2014
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