Levin says blocking judicial ombudsman from leading Sde Teiman probe would allow ‘cover-up’

Preempting the High Court’s decision on the Sde Teiman leak affair, Justice Minister Yariv Levin warned on Sunday that ruling against him would ultimately enable a “cover up.”

“Any ruling that blocks the appointment of the State Ombudsman for Judges Asher Kula” as the lead investigator of the case “would mean that the court has allowed the investigation to be covered up,” Levin said in a statement.

The High Court of Justice was expected to rule on Sunday on who will oversee the criminal investigation into the Sde Teiman video leak scandal, a case that has roiled the country and the justice system.

Levin has insisted that the Attorney General’s Office and State Attorney’s Office cannot be allowed to run the probe, asserting that they are compromised in the case. But those offices have rejected his effort to appoint Kula, the state ombudsman for judges, to run the investigation, calling it improper political intervention in a criminal process.

Court justices indicated last week that Kula was unlikely to pass muster, noting two concerns: the impropriety of a political figure, Levin, selecting the person to lead a criminal probe, and the fact that the law prohibits the ombudsman from taking on any other position or professional role.

In his statement Sunday, Levin said that though “no one disagrees about [Kula’s] integrity and professionalism,” some still “strongly opposed” him because they knew he “won’t give up on the truth.”

Levin warned against appointing someone else to oversee the probe, claiming the only reason to do so would be to undermine the investigation.

“It will be clear evidence that the odd conduct of the investigation, like [Attorney General Gali] Baharav-Miara’s attempts to get involved in it, is meant to prevent the probe from reaching the truth and to conceal the former military advocate general’s accomplices.”

High Court judges had indicated last week that they believed a possible solution was to appoint a retired Supreme Court judge to lead the probe. They urged the sides to reach a compromise, to no avail.

In the case, former military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi has admitted that she authorized the leak of a video last year purporting to show the abuse of a Palestinian security detainee by IDF soldiers at the Sde Teiman military facility. She then lied about the matter while ostensibly leading the investigation to find the leaker.

Levin, who has for months sought to push Baharav-Miara out of office, then moved to have Kula oversee the investigation of the leak, arguing that Baharav-Miara had a conflict of interest because she previously oversaw what appears to have been a compromised investigation by the Military Advocate General’s Office.

Baharav-Miara eventually agreed to step away from the case but insisted that it should be run by State Attorney Amit Aisman. Levin rejected this arrangement, arguing that as her subordinate, Aisman too was compromised. Opposition figures claim Levin’s insistence on sidelining top legal officials is aimed less at safeguarding the investigation that at weakening legal institutions.