Storm on the web: Who is trying to erase the 'Shameful Trials' affair from Wikipedia?

A heated debate is raging on social media over an attempt to delete the Hebrew Wikipedia entry for the 'Shameful Trials' affair, concerning the arrest of lawyer Shira Shpitz in 2020. A deletion vote that began on October 1 is expected to end today (Thursday). A user on X named Hagai revealed documentation of a temporary Wikipedia account, created and operated solely to remove the entry. The affair, which became a symbol of harm to freedom of speech, is back in the headlines.

A heated debate is developing on social media over an attempt to delete the Hebrew Wikipedia entry for the 'Shameful Trials' affair. A deletion vote that began on October 1 is expected to end today (Thursday, October 8, 2026). A user on X named Hagai published documentation of a temporary Wikipedia account, created at 5:25 PM and a minute later deleted 21,983 bytes from the entry. The account, which has no name, was exclusively engaged in deleting the entry. The affair itself began on February 22, 2020, when lawyer Shira Shpitz said to then-Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit the words 'Shameful Trials, shameful.' She was detained and taken for questioning on Shabbat, even though she was a religious woman. The criminal case was closed due to lack of guilt after the affair was exposed in the media in October 2020. In March 2023, she was awarded compensation of 70,000 shekels. The affair became a symbol of harm to freedom of speech and the power imbalance between the citizen and law enforcement authorities.