The high-stakes jurisdictional battle over the Sde Teiman leak investigation has moved into its next phase. On Sunday, attorney Yael Kotik, the Justice Ministry’s legal advisor, formally recommended to the High Court of Justice that State Attorney Amit Aisman is the “appropriate senior figure” to receive the investigation materials and decide on potential indictments.
The move essentially provides the legal “green light” needed to break the months-long deadlock that has kept the file in a procedural limbo between the police and the prosecutor's office.
The immediate next step rests with the High Court. Justice Daphna Barak-Erez, who previously ordered Kotik to find a “suitable official” within the prosecution by March 1, must now decide whether to ratify this arrangement.
If the Court accepts Kotik’s position, Israel Police will finally hand over the full, unredacted investigative file to Aisman’s office. The State-Attorney would then become the sole arbiter of whether to file criminal charges against those suspected of leaking the Sde Teiman footage - a list that includes former military advocate-general (MAG) Maj.-Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi.
Aisman would, per Kotik’s recommendation, be required to maintain a strict firewall between his team and the Attorney-General’s Office to avoid the “conflict of interest” trap the legal advisor identified.
Restriction on Attorney-General maintained
By recommending Aisman, Kotik has effectively locked the door on Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara’s involvement. An announcement from the office explicitly states that while Aisman’s footprint in the early stages of the probe was “minimal,” the A-G’s staff were too deeply intertwined with the initial military checks.
“The restriction regarding the Attorney-General and her office remains in effect,” Kotik wrote, citing the fact that several of Baharav-Miara’s subordinates have already provided testimony to police and may be called as witnesses in a future trial.
Kotik submitted her full reasoning in a sealed envelope to the Justices on Sunday, arguing that public disclosure of the specific testimonies could “harm or influence” the final stages of the investigation.
While Justice Minister Yariv Levin has previously pushed for an entirely external figure to lead the probe, Kotik’s recommendation of Aisman represents a “middle-path” solution - keeping the case within the professional civil service while bypassing the specific office of the Attorney-General.