Attorney General Gali Baharav‑Miara attempted to thwart the investigation of the disgraced Military Advocate General, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, and personally prevented the transfer of information on the case to Lahav 433 (known as the Israeli FBI), an explosive report by 124News revealed on Thursday evening.
According to the report, what began as a personal request by IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir for a sensitive police investigation escalated into direct intervention by the Attorney General and a severe command clash among senior police officials.
The incident began on October 16, 2025. Zamir’s aide, Col. Alon Laniado, contacted Lahav 433 commander Commissioner Manny Binyamin and informed him about a sensitive and urgent investigation that Zamir wanted Lahav 433 to lead. The two scheduled a meeting for Sunday morning.
On Sunday morning, Binyamin spoke by phone with the head of the Police Investigations and Intelligence Division, Boaz Balt. Binyamin informed his superior that he was on his way to a sensitive meeting with the Chief of Staff, noting that he was not told details over the phone due to the classified nature of the matter.
The turning point came immediately afterward: Commissioner Balt and his aide, Rinat Saban, called Zamir’s aide, Laniado. Minutes after this call, Laniado contacted Binyamin and informed him that the meeting was canceled.
Why was the meeting canceled? The report said that a behind-the-scenes conversation took place between Attorney General Baharav‑Miara and Zamir, during which she told him, “I am handling this investigation myself. Cancel the meeting with the Lahav 433 commander. Everything must go through me.”
Ten days later, on October 26, the issue resurfaced—this time in explosive tones. Commissioner Balt summoned Commissioner Binyamin to a meeting at the Jerusalem District but added an unusual demand: “Come to this meeting with Deputy Commissioner Momi Meshulam.”
Binyamin, who understood that the goal of the meeting was to discuss who would oversee the investigation, protested being told which officer must serve under him. “Why Momi specifically?” Binyamin asked Balt. “Maybe he’s suitable, maybe he’s not. But you won’t dictate to me which officer I bring to work under me. He doesn’t have enough investigators, and he manages a small unit.”
Balt’s response was a clear ultimatum: “Either you come with him, or I transfer this investigation elsewhere.” Binyamin refused to bend and replied, “I don’t accept such instructions. I have no shortage of investigations. I don’t even know what this is about. Goodbye.”
Following the heated exchange, and in coordination with the Attorney General, Balt decided to transfer the investigation to MALMAB, the Defense Ministry’s Security Authority. Although the unit is considered obscure, the chief of MALMAB made efforts to conceal the fact that his office was now handling the investigation.
It should be noted that Deputy Commissioner Momi Meshulam is the officer who interrogated Prime Minister Netanyahu in the “Cases 1000–4000” investigations and recorded his testimony in the Qatargate probe. As previously reported, senior officials in Netanyahu’s office accused Meshulam of personally targeting the Prime Minister. They said that Meshulam made troubling remarks to associates, saying he would “see to it that Netanyahu gets hit.”
In addition, Commissioner Balt and his aide, Rinat Saban, are embroiled in controversy regarding Saban’s promotion, which National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir refuses to approve. Moreover, in recent weeks—amid the escalating M.A.G. affair and the clash with Lahav 433—the Attorney General ordered a criminal investigation into none other than the head of Lahav 433 himself, Manny Binyamin!
Channel 12 journalist Amit Segal said,
“What i24News described is an attempt by the Attorney General and the investigations chief to prevent the case from being transferred to an independent authority like Lahav 433, and to retain it within circles of loyal investigators or units.”
“And on top of this, the same Attorney General is now hastily probing the very officer, Binyamin, with whom she previously clashed over the Military Advocate General affair—on allegations that are not exactly the most compelling.”
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said, “Maybe now the judges will wake up and understand what is really happening under their noses? Maybe now the Police Commissioner will stop closing his eyes and not allow the head of investigations to whitewash the affair? And maybe finally someone will interrogate the Attorney General under caution and prevent her from accessing investigative materials and sensitive cases?”
“Her decision to block the referral to an independent authority, Lahav 433, is the decision of a mafia boss. And if there are judges who choose to cooperate with concealment and cover‑ups and do not allow the investigation to proceed, they too must be summoned for questioning. Israel cannot continue to be held hostage by the ‘rule of law gang.’ It is time to stop. Literally. Now!”
Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat said, “From the very beginning it was clear that the Attorney General was complicit, by act or omission, in the greatest legal crime in the history of the state. The Attorney General must go home together with the Military Advocate General; the sooner the better. We have no trust in her.”
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