Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Thursday officially submitted his nomination for retired district court judge Yosef Ben-Hamo to head the ongoing investigation into the former IDF military advocate general, despite the nomination not conforming to a High Court order.

Shortly after the announcement, the High Court of Justice issued an interim order delaying the appointment, which Levin in turn denounced as a “whitewashing enterprise.”

Levin announced the appointment earlier this week, following a ruling by the High Court of Justice on Sunday that allowed him to make his choice provided the appointee is a “senior public servant,” which Ben-Hamo is not.

The appointee will have the authority to “oversee and inspect” the criminal investigation of the Sde Teiman leak affair, the High Court stated in its ruling.

In the case, former military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi has admitted that she authorized the leak of a surveillance video last year purporting to show the abuse of a Palestinian security detainee by IDF soldiers at the Sde Teiman military facility. She then lied about the matter while ostensibly leading the investigation to find the leaker.

Levin initially chose State Ombudsman for Judges Asher Kula to oversee the investigation, but the court ruled that the pick was........

© The Times of Israel