Arrested in the 'Ben Gvir associates' affair: Commander of the Israeli Special Forces, Avishai Mualem

December 3, 2024   

The court today (Tuesday) allowed publication that the senior police officer arrested by the IDF is the commander of the IDF's Prison Service, Deputy Commissioner Avishai Mualem. Alongside Mualem, Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakovi and another police officer with the rank of superintendent, whose name is still prohibited from publication, were also detained for questioning yesterday. Mualem is suspected, according to the IDF, of bribery, breach of trust, and abuse of office. The main suspicion against him is leaking information to the Minister of National Security's entourage about administrative arrests of right-wing activists and classified investigative information in exchange, ostensibly, for a possible promotion. At the same time, the court ordered Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakovi not to interfere in appointments in the police for 30 days - and forbade him from contacting IDF Commissioner Mualem. Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir responded: "Lieutenant-General Avishai Mualem, commander of the Israeli Security Service, acted as he should - he put the security of the settlers in Judea and Samaria at the top of the list of priorities, and focused on the fight against Arab terrorism instead of chasing and harassing teenagers with markers. Mualem implemented my policy, and for that he was arrested. "This probably bothers the prosecutor, which is why she chose to arrest him and throw him into the interrogation room as the last of the criminals." The officers will be questioned today with a warning once again. One of Deputy Chief of Staff Mualem's associates stormed out at a representative of the Israeli Security Service in the courtroom hallway, shouting at her: "Who are you showing your evil to?""  

The associate of the deputy commissioner suspected of giving a bribe threatened a representative of the police department: "Who are you showing your evil to?" | Documentation@VeredPelman pic.twitter.com/Zbiizz0mOA

— Here News (@kann_news) December 3, 2024

Police investigators are expected to collect open testimony from additional police officers today. The detention of Mualem, the deputy chief of police who commands one of the most important units in the district, has been extended until Thursday. Today, the Jerusalem District Court held a hearing on an appeal filed by his attorney, Attorney Ephraim Damri, regarding the extension of his detention. At the end of the hearing, the court rejected the appeal and he will remain in detention until Thursday, as determined by the Magistrate's Court. Attorney Damri said this morning, in a conversation with Udi Segal and Anat Davidov on 103fm radio: "This is a political arrest, a political investigation. At least for my client, after I heard Kobi Yaakovi speak, the investigating body will apologize respectfully, send them a bouquet of flowers and ask them for forgiveness. This is an attempt to intimidate the political echelon and the police echelon that upholds and implements Minister Ben Gvir's policy. "Even that deputy chief of staff that I represent has no personal connection to Minister Ben Gvir, he is only carrying out orders from his commanders and his superiors." Damri said: "Yesterday in court I asked who ordered the opening of the investigation and who ordered the arrests. As soon as they allow us to publish the answers, they will be the ones that show a political investigation. Yesterday I asked the MHAS what is bribery? It's not a benefit, it's not money, they didn't know how to explain it, because it's all nonsense, there's nothing there." Attorney Damari called for the partial gag order in the case to be canceled and said: "Yesterday I did the work instead of the media, and appealed to the District Court to cancel the gag order. I asked on behalf of my client to cancel the order, so that the entire public understands that this is a case in which senior officials in the Israel Police are being tried to besmirch, and also Minister Ben Gvir." Of his client, Damari said: "What they are trying to attribute to him is an unacceptable delusion. This is one of the most respected officers in the Israel Police, forty years in the system, with a badge and decorations. When an officer in the Israel Police receives a rank, there are certain committees, there are letters of recommendation, there are protocols. "You can see that the position he is in was given to him during the time of Minister Bar Lev, not Ben Gvir.".