Levin petitions court over delay in appointing judge to oversee Sde Teiman leak probe

Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Sunday asked the High Court of Justice to cancel its interim order delaying his appointment of retired district court judge Yosef Ben-Hamo as head of the ongoing investigation into the leak of surveillance video from a military facility.

Former military advocate general Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi has admitted to authorizing the leak of CCTV footage last year purporting to show the severe abuse of a Palestinian security detainee by IDF soldiers at the Sde Teiman facility. She is accused of then lying about the matter while ostensibly leading the investigation to find the leaker.

Levin announced the appointment of Ben-Hamo to head the probe last week, following a ruling by the High Court of Justice that allowed him to choose an overseer provided the appointee was a senior public servant, which Ben-Hamo is not.

A subsequent court ruling temporarily stayed Ben-Hamo’s appointment.

On Sunday, Levin urged the immediate lifting of the stay. He said that the delay was causing harm to the investigation and implied that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and the State Attorney’s Office were using the delay to get around earlier court rulings.

“Elements who were disqualified by the High Court from overseeing the investigation due to their involvement in the affair are… petitioning the court to revoke the minister’s authority to appoint an external oversight entity,” Levin charged, even though the appeal was filed by the Israel Democracy Guard organization.

He alleged that “that purpose of this unprecedented action is none other than to delay and thwart the investigation, and in this way prevent it from uncovering the truth,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Bar Association on Sunday petitioned the court against Ben-Hamo’s appointment, saying that Levin’s nomination was intended to lead to the eventual dismissal of Baharav-Miara.

The Bar Association additionally charged that Ben-Hamo does not meet the criteria for the position, noting the fact that he is not a civil servant, does not have the requisite criminal law expertise, and has ties to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.

On Thursday, Levin officially submitted his nomination for Ben-Hamo to head the ongoing investigation, at which point the Israel Democracy Guard petitioned the court against the nomination, seeking a delay in its implementation.

In its subsequent order pausing the appointment, the High Court gave Levin, the attorney general, and the State Attorney’s Office until Monday to respond to the petition.

The court’s ruling stipulated that the supervisor of the probe must have no political affiliation, be an expert in legal affairs, and have a job closely connected to criminal investigations or prosecutions.

The High Court ruling also stipulated that the supervisor be a “senior public servant,” which Ben-Hamo is not.

Levin claimed that he could not find such an individual suitable for the role and said the court’s conditions were “almost impossible to fulfill.”

Levin initially chose State Ombudsman for Judges Asher Kula to oversee the investigation, but the court invalidated that appointment since the law explicitly bans the ombudsman from serving in any other position, or carrying out any other function, while in office.

Such an investigation would usually be overseen by Baharav-Miara; however, the court said a conflict of interest, stemming from the attorney general’s involvement in an earlier investigation into the leak, blocked her from overseeing the investigation.

Levin, whose contentious bid to hobble the judiciary has sparked mass protests since he announced it in early 2023, has championed the ongoing effort to oust Baharav-Miara from her position, which is the subject of a separate court battle. He has also pushed legislation to break up the AG’s role into three separate jobs and strip it of its power to constrain the government.