In blow to Levin, High Court rules state attorney can handle probe into leak of Sde Teiman video

The High Court rejects efforts to disqualify state prosecutors from being involved in the investigation into the leak of a highly controversial video from the Sde Teiman military prison showing alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee in 2024.

The 2-1 ruling says that State Attorney Amit Aisman can investigate the leak of the video, rejecting Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s attempts to keep the case out of the hands of state prosecutors amid his ongoing war with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Levin has accused the attorney general of having a conflict of interest in the case after her office oversaw an internal probe that recommended not opening a criminal investigation into the leak’s source. That source ended up being revealed as ex-military advocate general Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who admitted to the leak.

Levin demanded that he be allowed to select someone from outside the state prosecution to oversee the investigation, something the justices allowed at the time, but they later rejected both of his nominees, since neither met the guidelines set out in their ruling.

Aisman is expected to order the filing of indictments against Tomer-Yerushalmi, as well as against the other senior military prosecutors suspected of leaking and covering up the leak of the video in question.