Police chief said withholding Sde Teiman leak probe results that contradict Ben Gvir

Police chief Daniel Levy is reportedly holding off on filing the findings of the Sde Teiman video leak investigation because they don’t implicate Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, whom National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accuses of complicity in the crime and its cover-up.

The footage, which purports to show guards at the southern detention facility severely abusing a Gazan inmate, was leaked last year by then-Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who admitted in October she had initiated the leak and then lied about it to the High Court.

Baharav-Miara has recused herself from the case following a Justice Ministry legal opinion that there was a “possible linkage” between the current police investigation and the MAG’s earlier, fallacious internal probe, which Baharav-Miara oversaw.

Hebrew media has reported that police finished the investigation on December 18, and on Wednesday presented the findings to Levy, who ordered investigators to keep working the case.

Police sources cited by Channel 13 on Friday said Levy’s order had no professional basis and was instead motivated by pressure from Ben Gvir to find dirt on Baharav-Miara.

The investigation reportedly found enough evidence to indict Tomer-Yerushalmi, former deputy MAG Gal Asael, former chief military prosecutor Matan Solomesh and other officers in the MAG’s office. But the investigation reportedly found no evidence linking Baharav-Miara to the leak or to the cover-up, and she was neither investigated nor questioned.

According to a separate report by Channel 12, wrapping up the investigation could void the grounds for Baharav-Miara’s recusal, while leaving the investigation ongoing keeps her away from the case, as demanded by Justice Minister Yariv Levin.

Police denied in a statement to Channel 12 that Levy was withholding the results of the investigation and called the accusation baseless. The statement added that police could not comment on the substance of the investigation because it was ongoing.

The government seeks to oust Baharav-Miara as part of the judicial overhaul that Levin announced in January 2023.

The Sde Teiman video leak investigation has emerged as one of the latest fronts in the government’s broadside against the judiciary, after Baharav-Miara ordered the probe reopened in October due to new information that implicated the Military Advocate General’s office.

Tomer-Yerushalmi has said she leaked the video to counter public pressure after far-right mobs — including members of Ben Gvir’s and Levin’s parties — stormed Sde Teiman following the arrest of reservists accused of abusing the inmate seen in the video.