The High Court of Justice annulled on Sunday Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s decision to appoint State Ombudsman for Judges Asher Kula to oversee the criminal investigation into the Sde Teiman video leak, but upheld his right to appoint an official from outside of prosecution agencies to supervise the investigation.

In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that Kula cannot oversee the investigation due to the law banning the ombudsman for judges from serving in any other position, or carrying out any other function other than that of an ombudsman.

But the court decided that Levin did have the authority to appoint an official outside of the Attorney General’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office, due to the “irregular and extreme circumstances” of the situation.

Due to concerns about political interference in criminal proceedings, the court nevertheless imposed strict restrictions on who Levin could appoint to the position, insisting that the official have strong law enforcement credentials and have no political affiliation.

Liberal government watchdog groups argued that Levin’s appointment of Kula violated democratic principles according to which politicians must not be involved in the criminal investigation process.

But Levin’s attorney argued in court that since officials from the Attorney General’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office were involved in a previous internal probe by the Military Advocate General’s Office into the Sde Teiman leak that recommended closing the case without a criminal investigation, those agencies had institutional conflicts of interest in overseeing the current investigation, opened after the former military advocate general admitted she authorized the leak.

Levin has yet to issue a response to the ruling.

Likud MK Avichai Buaron, who petitioned the court against Baharav-Miara’s involvement in the investigation, described the ruling as “a great victory for everyone for whom the truth and........

© The Times of Israel