The High Court of Justice today (Wednesday) decided to reject the petition filed demanding an order to the Israel Police on how to conduct the investigation into the leak of materials in the 'Yemen Field' affair - a move led by Justice Minister Yariv Levin.
The panel of judges unanimously ruled that there is no legal basis to order the investigative bodies to carry out specific actions within the framework of the case.
In addition, a majority opinion, formulated by Justice Yitzhak Amit and Justice Khaled Kabob, ruled that there is no basis for judicial intervention in the opinion of the Ministry of Justice's legal advisor.
According to this opinion, the State Attorney is no longer prevented from being involved in accompanying the investigation of the affair. At the same time, the court determined that there is no reason to grant the Minister of Justice additional extension to appoint another person to supervise the investigation.
On the other hand, Judge David Mintz presented a minority position, according to which it was appropriate to issue a conditional order ordering the Minister of Justice to explain why he was not exercising his authority and appointing a designated inspector for the investigation.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded: "Judge Yitzhak Amit's corrupt decision to return the investigation of the MPA to the State Attorney as part of the cover-up of the video leak that caused incalculable damage to the heroic IDF fighters is another expression of the hands-off approach of the High Court of Justice judges, the Attorney General's Office and the Ombudsman.".
"Instead of Gali Baharav sitting in the interrogation rooms herself, she will conduct the investigation and ensure that her friend, who seriously harmed the State of Israel, emerges from this serious affair unscathed.".
""I call on the High Court judges who have a little integrity left to stand up against this trolling and not be content with side comments in the minority position.".
MK Avichai Boaron and the Lavi organization, the petitioners in the Magistrate's Court case: "The public must understand that an extremely sensitive investigation, concerning serious offenses committed by the heads of the legal system, has been conducted for many months lazily and without an overseeing body. A trip on steroids. The result of the ruling given today was determined by the majority position of Justices Yitzhak Amit and Khaled Kabob, against the opinion of Justice David Mintz, who wrote explicitly that Amit's position effectively empties the ruling in the petition we submitted of its content.
""We will demand that another hearing be held in an expanded composition of the Supreme Court. Such a fundamental issue, which concerns the purity of the investigation, conflicts of interest at the top of the law enforcement system, and the trust of the entire public, cannot be concluded with a two-judge majority in the face of such a pointed and reasoned minority opinion.".
""We will not give up. We will not allow the affair to be whitewashed, and we will not agree that those who were required to be investigated or whose system is involved in the affair will also be the ones who oversee the way it is closed. The truth must be investigated. And the investigation must be clean. And whoever tries to legalize a tainted investigation will encounter us with every legal and public means at our disposal.".
