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Original article: El expediente que complica a Zaliasnik en Israel: jueces que ayudó a nombrar fallaron causas de su interés

The recent appointment of Gabriel Zaliasnik as ambassador of Chile to Israel has come under a cloud of suspicion after it was revealed that the lawyer allegedly played a role in nominating at least ten judges, several of whom later ruled on legal cases related to his interests without declaring any conflicts of interest.

A journalistic investigation by Reportea has uncovered that the now-diplomat, who is also a former president of the Jewish Community in Chile, has operated in the shadows of the judiciary for years alongside lawyers Luis Hermosilla and Samuel Donoso. Together, they formed a network that not only promoted compatible candidates to the courts but subsequently reaped the rewards of those loyalties through crucial rulings.

The most emblematic case involves the fund management company Sartor, a client of Zaliasnik’s that managed to halt its liquidation thanks to a stay order backed by then-ministers Verónica Sabaj and Antonio Ulloa, both of whom were direct beneficiaries of Zaliasnik’s support to achieve their positions on the Santiago Court.

A Network of Appointments Under Scrutiny

Messages extracted from Hermosilla’s phone, who is being prosecuted for bribery, tax crimes, and money laundering in the Audio Case, reveal a systematic pattern of influence. In March 2021, Donoso wrote to his partner: «This we see with GZ,» listing five candidates for various courts in the country, including Gerardo Bernales in Talca, Gonzalo Rojas in Concepción, and Antonio Ulloa in Santiago. Three of them took office weeks later. The group’s effectiveness was such that even the then-Minister of Justice, Hernán Larraín, could not escape their pressure: when they tried to impose Alejandro Aguilar to the Santiago Court despite Larraín pushing another name, Zaliasnik was adamant in the chat: «Only Alejandro Aguilar ensures unconditionality.»

Aguilar personally thanked Hermosilla with a message that included the phrase «count on my loyalty», according to the cited media.

The influence of Gabriel Zaliasnik, Samuel Donoso, and Luis Hermosilla extended to the Supreme Court. At the end of 2021, then-presidential advisor Andrés Sotomayor directly consulted Donoso about two available ministerial positions. The response was clear: «We agree with Lucho and GZ that the best would be Mrs. (María Cristina) Gajardo and Diego Simpertigue.» Both were subsequently appointed.

Rulings Without Disqualification

Zaliasnik’s judicial record before the Santiago Court includes at least 25 cases resolved by judges he helped appoint or with whom he had close ties. None of them disqualified themselves. In January 2025, Verónica Sabaj and Antonio Ulloa signed the ruling that saved Sartor AGF from liquidation ordered by the Commission for the Financial Market.

Sabaj, who in her chats described the lawyer as «an excellent, great, and dear friend,» also did not recuse herself from another case in April 2021 where Zaliasnik defended a lawyer from his own firm accused of fraud, ruling in favor of the defendants.

Then-minister Paula Merino, whose rise to the Santiago Court was facilitated by Zaliasnik at Hermosilla’s behest (“He asked me to intercede with you,” the lawyer wrote in December 2021), also ruled twice in favor of the penal lawyer’s interests. In July 2024, Merino voted to accept a writ of amparo presented by Zaliasnik and Donoso to protect Marcelo Sanfeliú, a lawyer from Clínica Las Condes facing an investigation for malicious prosecution. Her vote was decisive in declaring the summons illegal.

The Signal Trail and the Investigation That Is Just Beginning

The Valparaíso Prosecutor’s Office has detected an element that could prove decisive in the investigation against Zaliasnik. The former minister acquired a new Galaxy A5 phone in September 2024, just after the Hermosilla case became public, and one of the first apps she installed was Signal, an encrypted messaging platform that leaves no traces of conversations.

On that account, Sabaj added Gabriel Zaliasnikk. The former Supreme Court minister Ángela Vivanco, notary Francisco Leiva, and minister Juan Cristóbal Mera are also listed, as revealed by Reportea.

Sabaj has changed her story twice. First, in judicial proceedings, she claimed she was not friends with Zaliasnik and had only seen him a few times. Then, in front of the prosecutor’s office in May 2026, she admitted that he helped her in her appointment, although she maintained that it was Robinovich, her best friend and the lawyer’s relative, who facilitated the contact. «I spoke with Zaliasnik but was not his friend», she stated, contradicting her own messages where she referred to him as a «great and dear friend.»

The accumulated evidence paints a complex scenario for the designated ambassador by José Antonio Kast as the investigation against him might encompass offenses including misappropriation of public funds, tax fraud, incompatible negotiations, influence peddling, and illegal interception of communications, among others.

La entrada Zaliasnik’s Troubling Appointment in Israel: Judges He Helped Nominate Ruling on His Cases se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.