Sensitive material and bribery: New details on IPS chief scandal

An investigation into Israel Police and Israel Prison Service (IPS) officers with close ties to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has rocked both organizations.

New details about investigations conducted by the Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) were revealed on Monday and shocked the police, the IPS, and the National Security Ministry.

Three figures have been detained for questioning so far.

Cmdr. Avishai Moalem, who is in charge of the West Bank district and is considered close to Ben-Gvir, is suspected of bribery, breach of trust, and misuse of police force.

IPS Chief Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi is suspected of breach of trust, obstruction of investigation, and potentially trying to influence police appointments.

Yaakobi allegedly became involved with Moalem’s appointment, and Moalem was allegedly involved in bribery for a promotion.

Security secretary

Until less than a year ago, Yaakobi served as the security secretary to Ben-Gvir and is considered very close to him.While it is too early to predict the outcome of this investigation, it is already clear that this represents a significant upheaval for the top levels of these institutions.

Since assuming his role as national security minister, Ben-Gvir has appointed many officers who now form the police’s command structure. Others who were not promoted have resigned and criticized Ben-Gvir for allegedly filling the leadership ranks with people loyal to him.

Ben-Gvir does not deny his desire to be involved in the appointments of officers from the rank of superintendent and above to implement his policies. He personally interviewed each candidate for promotion to these ranks and recently rejected about 20 candidates for command positions within the police.

In response to the allegations, Ben-Gvir held a press conference Monday night and criticized Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara. The investigation was politically motivated and aimed at toppling the government, he said.Some politicians likened the revelations to the Eli Feldstein case and the classified documents leak, while others said they were not similar.

Likud MK Moshe Saada, who is also former deputy head of the DIPI, on Monday said one of the key issues that may arise from the investigation is whether the minister in charge should be allowed to have access to the most sensitive security information gathered on targets by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Jewish Department and whether there is a connection between the allegedly leaked information and various appointments.

After 26 years in the Israel Police, Yaakobi assumed his role as IPS commissioner last January. He implemented a series of reforms aligned with Ben-Gvir’s policies and has received his full support.

Yaakobi, whose rank is equivalent to that of the police commissioner, is the highest-ranking officer to have been questioned under caution in recent years. The suspicion is that, in his role as security secretary, he transmitted sensitive information to Ben-Gvir’s office that he had received from a senior officer at the rank of chief superintendent in the West Bank district.

This officer holds one of the most sensitive positions in the district police and is currently a candidate for a senior role that would promote him to the rank of brigadier-general. His appointment to his current role by Ben-Gvir was criticized by the IDF, the Shin Bet, and human rights organizations.

The main claim is that since Ben-Gvir assumed the role of national security minister, West Bank district police action against Jewish terrorism has significantly decreased.

Over the past two years, fewer files into cases of Jewish nationalist crime have been opened, but because the number of incidents has dropped, according to the critics. Additionally, the clearance rate for such crimes has also significantly declined.

Ben-Gvir’s policy prioritizes focusing on Palestinian terrorism in the West Bank while downplaying Jewish nationalist actions, which he described on Monday as being limited to “graffiti spraying, nothing more.”

Investigating Ben-Gvir or any of his office’s staff members requires the approval of the attorney-general. Such approval has not yet been granted, and the DIPI has been focused on continuing the investigation. Additional officers, some of them very senior, are expected to be summoned for questioning.

On Sunday, Ben-Gvir said he would initiate steps to fire Baharav-Miara.