Supreme Court Justices Debate Minister's Power to Appoint External Investigator

All 11 justices of Israel's Supreme Court, known as the High Court of Justice (Bagatz), are convening for an expanded hearing on a previous ruling that permitted the Justice Minister to appoint an external overseer for a criminal investigation. The case stems from a ruling made about a year ago, which allowed the Justice Minister to appoint an external supervisor for the investigation of the former Military Advocate General, Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi. The court had emphasized at the time that due to the nature of criminal investigations and legal precedents prohibiting elected officials from interfering, this was an exceptional measure for special circumstances.

The petitioners and the Attorney General argued that this authority should be revoked, as it could allow elected officials to influence criminal probes. While the investigation into the former Military Advocate General has concluded, and thus the current ruling will not directly impact that specific case, the hearing addresses the fundamental question of whether a political figure can appoint an overseer for a criminal investigation.

Last December, Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit accepted a request from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for a rehearing to reconsider the ruling that granted Justice Minister Yariv Levin the power to appoint an investigator. President Amit clarified that the conclusions of this new hearing would be prospective and not apply to the concluded investigation.

The Attorney General's petition followed President Amit's freezing of the appointment of retired judge Yosef Ben-Hamo as overseer for the Military Advocate General's investigation. This occurred despite a prior judicial decision affirming the Justice Minister's authority to appoint such an overseer, with the judges specifying that the appointee should be a senior civil servant.