MK and Organization Demand Justice Barak-Erez Recuse Herself from Case

Member of Knesset (MK) Avihai Boaron and the Im Tirtzu organization have filed an urgent request with the Supreme Court demanding that Justice Daphne Barak-Erez recuse herself from further proceedings in the "Military Advocate General" (MAG) case. The petitioners argue that due to previous decisions made by Barak-Erez on related matters, she cannot impartially rule on her own prior judgments.

They contend that Barak-Erez headed the panel that approved the framework for investigating the leak of a video from the Sde Teiman facility. The petitioners claim this approval was based on representations later found to be false. They also assert that the justice made decisions directly relevant to the current issue before the court, creating a genuine concern of bias and harming the appearance of justice.

The request references petitions filed in 2024 seeking to remove the investigation of the video leak from the Military Police and the Military Advocate General's corps. These petitions, also heard by a panel led by Barak-Erez, were dismissed in February 2025. The court ruled that concerns about conflicts of interest lacked a "solid factual basis" and that the oversight framework provided an "appropriate response."

However, the current request highlights that months later, the MAG's office itself took responsibility for approving the leak, after a military prosecutor admitted to leaking the video on orders. The petitioners emphasize they are not alleging the court knowingly approved the action, but rather that it was misled. They argue that precisely because of this, the current stage of the case should not be decided by the justice who led the panel that received those misleading representations.

Further claims cite decisions made by Barak-Erez in February 2026, where she directed the Justice Ministry's legal advisor to identify the state prosecution official to whom investigation materials would be transferred. The petitioners interpret this as the justice pre-emptively taking a stance on whether the case could be transferred to the state prosecution. Boaron and Im Tirtzu are demanding Barak-Erez recuse herself from all discussions on requests for further hearings in the case and that the matter be transferred to another justice.