Israeli Supreme Court Reveals Why Military Prosecutor Case Was Delayed for Nearly a Year

The prolonged delay in advancing the case against former military prosecutor Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi has been clarified following a recent Israeli Supreme Court ruling. Tomer-Yerushalmi publicly admitted nearly a year ago that she was the source who leaked a video of abuse from the investigation file to journalist Guy Peleg. Despite this, the case stalled due to legal and procedural obstacles involving the oversight of the investigation.

After the scandal broke, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, backed by coalition members and right-wing activists, sought to remove the Attorney General from overseeing the probe, appointing retired judge Asher Cola to replace her. However, the law did not permit Cola to assume this role, and subsequent attempts to appoint another retired judge, Yosef Ben Hamo, were invalidated by the court for failing to meet required conditions.

The Supreme Court identified that Levin delayed exercising his authority to appoint a proper supervisor for the investigation, which led to a lack of oversight. The police completed their investigation in February 2026 but had no authorized official to receive their findings. In March, the Attorney General's office declared it was no longer conflicted from handling the case, but right-wing groups and Levin challenged this, demanding further restrictions and oversight, which the court mostly rejected.

The ruling criticized Levin for obstructing the case's progress, causing a delay of about ten months since the scandal's emergence. The court indicated that had the process not been hindered, the case could have moved to indictment within months. Now, with the case finally unfrozen, the legal process including hearings and indictment submission is expected to take up to a year and a half.

The article highlights the political motivations behind the delays, noting coalition members’ frustration with the Attorney General’s swift response and their preference to see the Attorney General herself implicated rather than Tomer-Yerushalmi. This political interference has prolonged a case that many expected to be straightforward, undermining public trust in the rule of law.