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Sunday, August 23, 2026
High Court blocks appointments to new government-backed police watchdog, in blow to Levin
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The High Court of Justice issues a temporary injunction blocking Justice Minister Yariv Levin from making appointments to a newly politicized Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI), which is in charge of probing police wrongdoing.
The injunction says “no new actions will be taken to advance the relevant appointments” until after the court reaches an interim ruling on petitions against legislation that the government pushed through in July to establish the new DIPI.
The temporary injunction comes a week after the August 16 deadline for the Justice Ministry tender to find a director of the new DIPI.
The DIPI is a Justice Ministry department that investigates police misconduct. It answers to the state attorney, who is a civil servant, rather than the justice minister, who is a politician. The legislation that passed in July would put the DIPI directly under the control of the justice minister.
In a High Court filing earlier this month, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara called on judges to halt senior appointments to the new DIPI, and expressed concern that an unduly politicized DIPI would intimidate law enforcement and harm the state’s ability to ensure the integrity of the upcoming October 27 election.
The Times of Israel Community.