Top cop, AG slam Ben Gvir for blocking promotion of officer involved in PM’s trial

Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara heavily criticized National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir in court filings on Tuesday over the far-right minister’s stymieing the promotion of a police officer involved in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial.

The filings were included in a petition to the Jerusalem District Court filed by Supt. Rinat Saban, a high-ranking officer in the Police Investigations and Intelligence Division who testified against Netanyahu in court earlier this year.

Ben Gvir has, for months, been blocking Saban’s promotion to the rank of chief superintendent, despite having signed off on it in December 2024 conditional on her completing the police command and staff course, which she did in April 2025 — a month after testifying against the premier in court.

In the court filings submitted alongside Saban’s petition, the police chief argued that Ben Gvir’s refusal to promote the superintendent “could sow fear among police officers who testify in criminal investigations.”

This, the petition stated, could “discourage dedicated police officers from fulfilling their duties in investigating public figures or government corruption, as this may lead the political leadership to block their promotions.”

Levy also requested that the court grant him permission to go over Ben Gvir’s head and promote Saban, should the ultranationalist minister refuse a potential court order to promote her.

Baharav-Miara, who has accused Ben Gvir of exerting unlawful influence over police policy and appointments, argued in the court filings that his “unprecedented” refusal to allow Saban’s promotion to go through stemmed “solely from political considerations” rather than genuine concern regarding her abilities.

By refusing to allow Saban’s promotion, Ben Gvir was in violation of “the rule of law, the principles of democracy and moral purity in the public service,” the Attorney General’s Office argued.

The national security minister, the petition noted, is “forbidden from interfering in individual police investigations, attempting to influence them, or acting in a manner that will influence police investigators and the manner in which they carry out their role.”

Saban, whose promotion Ben Gvir has reportedly been blocking since early June, testified against Netanyahu in March and previously investigated his advisers Jonatan Urich and Ofer Golan on suspicion of harassing Shlomo Filber, a state witness in Case 4000, the most serious of the three cases in the premier’s ongoing corruption trial.

In July, Baharav-Miara accused Ben Gvir of factoring political considerations into his decision to block Saban’s promotion, calling his behavior “highly unusual and unprecedented compared to past police promotions.”

At the time, she warned in a letter to the far-right minister that his behavior was “not just inappropriate but also an abuse of power,” and demanded, to no effect, that he immediately sign off on Saban’s promotion, as his signature was meant to be a formality and was not intended to grant him actual power over the promotion process.

In April, Baharav-Miara and Ben Gvir came to an agreement in which he committed to curbing his involvement in police promotions and operational decision-making. The agreement was a precondition set by the attorney general before she agreed to defend Ben Gvir in High Court against petitions demanding his dismissal.

The agreement barred Ben Gvir from interviewing officers up to the rank of superintendent for promotion, distancing him from the promotion process for mid-ranking police.

But just a week after reaching the agreement, Ben Gvir denied ceding authority to appoint and promote police officers, insisting that he only agreed not to interview officers.

Earlier this year, Ben Gvir boasted that he offers promotions to police officers only if he is convinced they will implement his policies, including “compassion for right-wing activists” and the destruction of “entire villages” illegally built by Bedouins on state land in the Negev.

Charlie Summers contributed to this report.