AG says Justice Minister Levin has no authority to bar her from investigating military leak affair

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara rejects Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s declaration last night that she is legally barred from involvement in the investigation against former military advocate general Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi over the Sde Teiman video leak affair, saying he has no authority to take such action.

The attorney general also insists that Levin has no authority to appoint another official to conduct the investigation as he has said he will, or to bar other officials in the Attorney General’s Office from dealing with the investigation, and says his effort to do so “lacks any basis, factual or legal.”

Levin’s letter to Baharav-Miara on the issue “constitutes an effort to unlawfully interfere with investigative and enforcement processes,” the attorney general insists.

Baharav-Miara insists that the investigation into the affair will be handled by the heads of the law enforcement services, including herself, State Attorney Amit Aisman, and the head of the police’s investigations and intelligence department.

The clash between Levin and Baharav-Miara over the investigation appears likely to end up in the Supreme Court in order to determine if Levin indeed does have the authority to sideline the attorney general and her office under the circumstances.