High Court again strikes down Levin’s choice for official overseeing Sde Teiman probe

The High Court of Justice rules that Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s second choice to supervise the investigation into the Sde Teiman video leak is invalid.

The court has now invalidated two of Levin’s picks for the ad-hoc role. The ruling is certain to further ramp up the already considerable tension between Levin and the judiciary.

In a unanimous ruling of the three judges on the panel, the court points out that in its ruling in November invalidating Levin’s selection of State Ombudsman for Judges Asher Kula, it gave strict instructions for who would qualify to supervise the investigation.

In particular, the court notes that its original ruling said that the investigation supervisor must be a “senior public official,” who was an expert in legal affairs, and whose job was closely connected to criminal investigations or prosecutions.

Levin subsequently picked retired judge Yosef Ben-Hamo, but the court says he does not qualify as a senior public official.

Justice Yael Willner, a conservative, who wrote the lead opinion, asserts that the condition of a senior public official was crucial and stipulated by the court to mitigate the problem of a serving cabinet minister being involved in the staffing of a criminal investigation, when such investigations must be nonpolitical in nature.

“When the [justice] minister selects someone from outside the civil service… the selection of the minister under these circumstances – regardless of the identity of the person selected – inherently increases the concern that extraneous political considerations underlie the appointment,” wrote Willner.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel described the ruling as an “important victory for the rule of law,” and described the appointment of Ben-Hamo as “fundamentally flawed,” claiming he had political affiliations.

Levin has not yet responded.