Israeli Supreme Court President Ishak Amit Moves to Suppress Controversial Military Video Leak Case

Israeli Supreme Court President Ishak Amit, appointed amid controversy, has effectively buried the high-profile case involving the leak of a video from Teyman military base. The video, which circulated globally, allegedly showed Israeli soldiers committing a serious sexual offense against a detainee, causing significant reputational damage to Israel and its military. Despite widespread media coverage, including by Guy Peleg and Channel 12, the accused soldiers were cleared in March due to evidentiary issues and prosecutorial misconduct. The former military advocate general, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, admitted to authorizing the leak, a revelation that shook Israel’s legal establishment and raised suspicions of false reporting to the Supreme Court.

The case’s institutional fallout threatened the authority of the State Attorney’s Office and the military prosecution, both of which had overseen the investigation. In November 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in the Boaron case that oversight of such investigations could not be entrusted to senior officials previously involved in the case, allowing the Justice Minister to appoint an independent supervisor. Justice Minister Levin struggled to find a suitable candidate, initially nominating retired judge Asher Kola, who was disqualified on legal grounds, then retired judge Yosef Ben-Hamo, whose appointment was frozen and later rejected by the court.

At this critical juncture, Amit intervened to stall the appointment process, freezing Ben-Hamo’s nomination and later rejecting it, citing strict criteria from the Boaron ruling. Amit then granted requests for a full Supreme Court hearing on the Justice Minister’s authority and conflict of interest issues, effectively opening the door to revisiting and potentially overturning the Boaron precedent. This move signals a likely shift in the court’s stance on external oversight of investigations.

Recently, the Justice Ministry’s legal advisor, Yael Kotik, removed the conflict of interest disqualification of State Attorney Amit Issman, allowing the case to return to the prosecution without the external oversight mandated by Boaron. Amit engineered a court panel favorable to this outcome, with justices Kavuv and himself forming a majority against the dissenting conservative Justice Mintz. Mintz criticized the decision, warning that without implementing external oversight, the Boaron ruling would be rendered meaningless.

Amit’s actions have deepened institutional trust issues, as he appears to aggressively defend the existing power structure, resisting accountability mechanisms. The Boaron ruling was founded on the principle that even watchdogs require oversight, but Amit’s maneuvers risk establishing that some institutions in Israel are beyond supervision. This development raises serious concerns about judicial independence and the balance of power within Israel’s legal system. The article is authored by constitutional law expert Professor Moshe Cohen-Eliya.