Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara is reportedly planning to file an indictment against Israel Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi, Israeli media reported on Tuesday. An indictment has not yet been filed.
Yaakobi was investigated - and summoned for hearings ahead of an indictment back in February - in a case dubbed the “Ben-Gvir associates” affair, on suspicion of public-integrity offenses, including fraud, breach of trust, and obstruction of investigative proceedings.
Yaakobi, who previously served as Ben-Gvir’s security secretary before being appointed by him to head the IPS, is under suspicion for passing “confidential and sensitive information” to a senior West Bank police officer regarding a covert investigation into that officer, thereby allegedly compromising the investigation.
Yaakobi was first questioned in the affair after investigators detained multiple senior figures in late 2024, as the Justice Ministry’s Police Investigation Department probed suspicions surrounding enforcement failures and alleged improper influence in the West Bank District.
The police officer was Avishai Muallem, at the time a former commander in the West Bank District’s central police unit. The suspicion was that he deliberately mishandled or “papered over” investigations into Jewish terror in the West Bank, allegedly in an effort to curry favor and advance professionally.
In response, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for Yaakobi to remain in his position, and called the attorney-general "a criminal," "ousted," and "anti-democratic." He also accused her of acting against Israel's best interests by attempting to "frame" Yaakobi.
Ben-Gvir defends Yaakobi
"This is the best commissioner in the nation's history," he claimed. "This is a commissioner who led a true revolution in the IPS, implemented the policies to the fullest, restored deterrence to the wings, ended the kindergartens, brought governance, and served as a father to the prison wardens - after decades of neglect in which terrorists effectively ran the prisons."
Ben-Gvir has repeatedly attacked the investigation publicly and backed Yaakobi, framing the case as politically motivated and saying that “he will remain chief for many years to come.”