Supreme Court blocks Levin: "He will not be able to appoint a head of the Police Investigation Department until further notice"

The Supreme Court ruled today (Tuesday) that Minister of Justice Yariv Levin will not be able to advance appointments, or appoint a new head of the Police Investigation Department (Mahash) — as he planned to do this week — until further notice.

At the beginning of the month, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara informed the Supreme Court that the deadline for submitting applications for the position of head of the Police Investigation Department (Mahash) had been extended again until August 16 — and will end about two months before the elections scheduled for October 27. This means that the Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, is expected to appoint the head of Mahash deep into the election period.

In her letter, submitted as part of the petition process by the Movement for Quality Government and the Israel Bar Association, the Attorney General wrote that "the call for applications published for the position of head of the department according to the Police Ordinance law was extended until August 16, and in view of this, the process will end at best about two months before the elections."

A week earlier, it was reported that retired District Court Judge Moshe Drori, who is close to the government, is one of Minister Levin's leading candidates for the position of commissioner for Mahash under the new law — which will come into effect in 2027.

The commissioner's duties and powers under the new law include resolving jurisdictional disputes regarding the transfer of files between Mahash and other investigative bodies, as well as determining the investigating or prosecuting authority in cases where doubt or disagreement arises.

A few days earlier, Attorney General Baharav-Miara submitted to the Supreme Court her response to the requests for interim injunctions in the petitions against the law. In her response, the advisor warned that the amendment creates "a precedent-setting reality in which an investigative and criminal prosecution body is directly subordinate to the political echelon," and demanded to delay its implementation and the appointment procedures for the position holders until a decision is reached on the petitions.

"In criminal law, the state exercises coercive power and particularly infringing powers against the individual. As long as the government has the means to intervene and influence criminal proceedings or effective levers of pressure on investigators and prosecutors, human rights in the country are in serious, clear, and immediate danger, and the state's exercise of coercive power loses its legitimacy," she wrote.

The law introduces full politicization into the Police Investigation Department so that its head will be chosen by the Minister of Justice through a committee whose majority are the minister's people. The law could bring journalists into investigation rooms without the approval of the Attorney General, and gives politicians the power to decide who will be investigated in order to deter criminal investigations against the government.