Adhering to a Thursday deadline by the High Court of Justice to settle who will lead the investigation into the Sde Teiman, the Attorney-General’s Office and Justice Ministry submitted their positions. All that’s left now is for the judges to issue a verdict.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin insisted that Judicial Complaints Investigator and former judge Asher Kula must be the one to lead the investigation into the leaking of the Sde Teiman video by former Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi.
He added that a state employee appointed by the Court and approved by his office can accompany it. “Anything that undercuts my authority in this matter would be a violation,” he wrote.
The prosecution’s position is that a retired Supreme Court justice should be the one to lead the investigation - effectively adhering to one of the alternative proposals offered by the court. “This is all suggested in the context that the principle of separation of powers, whereby a political element does not interfere in an ongoing criminal investigation, is maintained,” reads the position.
The position deadline was set by the High Court of Justice to secure a compromise between the Attorney-General’s Office and the Justice Ministry over the nature and authority of the investigation.
Levin wrote, “The bedrock of the situation we now find ourselves in is a fundamental and unprecedented conflict of interest relating to the legal advisory and the prosecution, which wholly disqualifies these bodies from any relation to the investigation.”
Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara had initially proposed that the investigation be overseen instead by State Attorney Amit Aisman. Her representatives argued on Thursday that Levin’s push for his preferential appointment is a breach of the judiciary’s sovereignty and constitutes political intervention in an ongoing criminal investigation.
Essentially, Levin buckled down on his position, the underlying argument of which is that the authority to appoint the person to lead the investigation is well within his ministerial powers, particularly in this case, which is so sensitive for the Attorney-General's Office.
The origin and developments of the Sde Teiman leak case
The saga began in July 2024, when military police raided Sde Teiman, a detention facility in southern Israel used by the IDF for Palestinian detainees during the Gaza War, after complaints of abuse.
The raid followed reports of a Palestinian detainee being severely beaten, dragged across the floor, struck with clubs, subjected to a taser (including on his head), and suffering broken ribs, a punctured lung, and rectal injury. About a month later, a video leaked showing soldiers surrounding a blindfolded detainee, igniting public outrage.
In the immediate aftermath, protests erupted. On July 29, a large group of right-wing politicians, activists, and reservists gathered at Sde Teiman and also at the related Beit Lid base, clashing with military police. Some stormed into the base to demand the release of the arrested soldiers.
By February 2025, five reservist soldiers had been indicted for “severely abusing” the detainee at Sde Teiman, though the original, more extreme charges (including suspected sexual assault) were downgraded.
Meanwhile, the leak investigation continued, focusing increasingly on how the video became public and whether officers in the IDF legal system obstructed justice or misled the judiciary.
Tomer-Yerushalmi, who until October 31 served as the IDF’s Military Advocate General, resigned after admitting that she authorized the leak of the video, claiming it was done to counter what she considered “false propaganda against the army’s law enforcement authorities.”
Shortly after her resignation, she was arrested earlier this month on charges tied to the leak - including obstruction of justice, fraud, and disclosure of classified information.
Alongside this, she reportedly went missing for several hours on November 2, prompting a search, and her phone was later recovered from seawater; she was also hospitalized following an alleged suicide attempt.
The High Court of Justice issued a deadline on Tuesday after a long hearing for a compromise to be reached between the Attorney-General’s Office and the Justice Ministry.
The deadline issued the nature and jurisdiction of the investigation into the Sde Teiman leak, whether it should be handled under military law or civilian criminal law, and how transparent the process will be.
Supreme Court Justice Yael Wilner suggested on Tuesday a compromise essentially rejecting both Aisman and Kula.
The bench suggested possible alternatives, including a senior district court judge with criminal law experience, a retired Supreme Court justice, or a senior figure from the Israel Securities Authority (ISA) or the Israel Competition Authority (ICA), both economic regulatory bodies.
“The time is ripe to reach agreements, to do good… [to] consider the public service needs right now," Wilner said on Tuesday. "This requires an immediate resolution; there is no time."