The statement clarified that a criminal investigation has been launched regarding the video's publication, with potential involvement of Military Advocate General personnel being probed. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir approved the chief military prosecutor's leave request, "pending clarification of additional details on the matter," the statement said.

In July 2024, the Military Police initiated an investigation into suspected abuse of a Palestinian terrorist at the Sde Teiman facility. Throughout the investigation, a video recording the soldiers' purported conduct leaked to media outlets, displaying an assault on the terrorist by five reserve soldiers at the Sde Teiman detention center. The accused soldiers rejected the suspicions, asserting they acted to control a terrorist who assaulted them and that the force they employed was proportionate. Right-wing sources argued the leak harms Israel as a moral nation.

Defense Minister Israel Katz responded to the decision, saying, "Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir informed me that following a criminal investigation proceeding in the Sde Teiman recording leak matter, and examination of Military Prosecution personnel involvement in the matter, the decision was made that the chief military prosecutor would take leave. I welcome and back the decision – we're talking about a serious matter that generated a blood libel against IDF soldiers domestically and internationally, and it must be examined and investigated completely."

The attorney general's office also announced an investigation would commence, with the High Court of Justice updated on the development. "Following information obtained recently, the attorney general decided to instruct the opening of a criminal investigation concerning offenses related to publishing the video from the Sde Teiman matter. At this stage, as the investigation continues, no additional details can be disclosed."

MK Tzvi Succot reacted on X to the IDF spokesperson's announcement regarding the investigation's launch. "Amid Israel's most difficult war in history, the chief military prosecutor opted to accuse IDF fighters as though they participated in raping terrorists. The video leaked from investigation materials in the chief military prosecutor's custody, along with the groundless charges the chief military prosecutor circulated about the fighters, transformed into insane anti-Israel propaganda globally during wartime – straight to jail!"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Yariv Levin also commented, noting the timing with legislation passage dividing the attorney general's position. "It's no coincidence that right after passing the bills concerning legal counsel to the government in preliminary Knesset reading, we learned about the decision to authorize launching a criminal investigation in the Sde Teiman matter, and about the chief military prosecutor's leave. Appointing the Shin Bet chief and the Public Ombudsman for Judges, along with promoting legal legislation and the resolute struggle to reveal truth and apply equal enforcement, are generating historic transformation before our eyes. I'll persist fearlessly until justice is entirely achieved."

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated, "The investigation concerning Sde Teiman and the chief military prosecutor's 'leave' departure represents a dramatic shift in protecting democracy from criminal behavior disguised as legal action. Everyone implicated in the matter should be held accountable, including the Attorney General herself, who initially attempted to sabotage the investigation with a deceptive High Court of Justice statement."

At Honenu, the organization defending several soldiers charged in the Sde Teiman matter, officials praised the investigation's opening regarding the video leak. The organization now weighs stopping the mediation procedure in the case and demanding indictment withdrawal against Unit 100 fighters. Attorneys Adi Keidar, Nati Rom, and Moshe Polsky described this as an essential measure, arguing the video leak aimed to tarnish the fighters' standing and harmed the IDF's and state's reputation.

Simultaneously, Honenu's lawsuit against Channel 12 News, reporter Guy Peleg, and the IDF for 2 million shekels ($564,000) in defamation damages regarding the video's publication is currently under consideration. The attorneys additionally insisted that all personnel connected to the matter's investigation be removed from their roles.

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The High Court of Justice on Wednesday excoriated the government over its handling of air travel during the coronavirus pandemic, ruling that the restrictions it imposed on entering and exiting the country were unconstitutional.

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In their ruling, the justices nullified the government-imposed limit on the total number of passengers allowed to enter the country by air each day. The 3,000 passengers daily limit will end on Saturday.

The court also said it was illegal to require travelers who lack both vaccination certificates and certificates of recovery from COVID-19 to receive special permission to travel from a government committee, eliminating the need to receive approval from the exceptions committee.

Israel's national coronavirus commissioner, Nachman Ash, criticized the court's decision, saying it could allow "dangerous variants" of COVID-19 into the country, undermining Israel's recent progress in combating the pandemic.

"It is unfortunate that we are now putting the encouraging morbidity figures at risk. The High Court decision is likely to bring Israel closer to a high wave of morbidity," he said in a statement.

The panel of Chief Justice Esther Hayut and justices Neal Hendel and Yitzhak Amit, as stated, assailed the government over the restrictions, saying they lacked references to the relevant data.

"In the future, any new travel restrictions into or out of Israel need, in legal terms, a comprehensive, factual, data-based foundation," the ruling said.

As a whole, however, the government's restrictions "violate the basic constitutional right to enter and exit Israel, and others rights at the core of the democratic fabric of life," the panel ruled.

The court added that "the threat of the coronavirus and its different variants isn't expected to disappear in the foreseeable future, despite the success of the vaccination drive." It called for a better balance between minimizing the threat of new strains entering the country and violating basic rights.

Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch and Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin, both members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, also slammed the ruling.

"The High Court is taking responsibility for the risk of mutations entering Israel. Good luck to us," Kisch wrote on Twitter.

A senior Health Ministry official called the ruling "idiotic" and said the judges "stabbed us in the back."

"Everyone's an epidemiologist now," the official said.

"With all due respect, I don't need a lecture on the level of the boy scouts to protect human rights. Even if we assume Israel's entrance policy was extreme, the judges should have said they view this gravely and allotted a reasonable timeframe of several weeks to fix it. But when they give four days including the weekend – what kind of solutions can we provide? What can the government do?" the official asked.

The Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians, on the other hand, welcomed the court's ruling.

"It's a shame that instead of planning and implementing feasible solutions at Ben-Gurion Airport and the border crossings, the government issued illogical and impracticable directives while creating problematic exceptions committees. This state of affairs hurt travelers and the health of the public. We hope that in light of the High Court's ruling the government will implement the balanced professional solutions for prudent management of the border crossings," the association said in a statement.

According to Channel 12 News, government officials were weighing the possibility of raising the number of Israelis allowed to enter per day to 6,000-8,000.

Officials have already held several meetings on the issue and Channel 12 said the government could approve new restrictions that apparently would pass muster with the court.

Travelers looking to depart from Israel after this coming Saturday, March 20, will not need permission from the exceptions committee. The air travel limits were due to expire on March 21, and the justices have now ruled that they will not be extended.

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United Airlines said it will resume regular service with 13 flights a week from Newark and San Francisco to Tel Aviv. Israeli airlines Israir, Arkia and El Al were also expected to announce the return of multiple routes, according to various media reports.

Meanwhile, the Knesset on Wednesday approved in second and third readings a law that will compel citizens returning from abroad to wear electronic bracelets for the duration of their self-quarantine at home.

According to the bill, those who do not wish to wear the electronic device will be able to quarantine in the so-called "coronavirus hotels."

Children under the age of 14 and other special cases will be excluded from wearing the bracelet.

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The High Court of Justice sparked controversy Monday with a landmark ruling on non-Orthodox conversion, evoking outrage on the Right and accolades from the Left. Right-wing parties panned the decision ordering the state to recognize Reform and Conservative conversions as a move that undermines Israel's Jewish character, while their Left counterparts praised it as a move promoting equality between all the denominations in Judaism.

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Likud condemned the ruling saying that "the High Court made a decision that endangers the Law of Return, which is a cornerstone of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Only a vote for Likud will ensure a stable right-wing government that will return sovereignty to the people and the Knesset."

Yamina leader Naftali Bennett admonished the High Court and accused it of "intervening in government decisions and forgetting its role.

"The State of Israel's recognition of conversion [to Judaism] will be determined by the democratically elected representatives of the people, and not jurists," he said.

Aryeh Deri, head of the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party Shas, lambasted the ruling as "a fatal blow to Israel's Jewish character and a complete destruction of the status quo in matter of religion and state that have existed for more than 70 years."

Shas' leader said that the ruling underlines the court's disconnect from the majority of the Israeli public, "who want to maintain the Jewish state and preserve Judaism according to traditions that go back thousands of years," and further vowed to support legislation that will prevent the court from intervening in such matters in the future.

MK Yaakov Asher of the Ashkenazi Haredi party United Torah Judaism, accused the High Court of intervening in the election campaign in favor of "a very specific party," alluding at the Center-Left block.

Echoing similar sentiment, Chief Rabbi David Lau said, "those who converted [to Judaism] through a Reform conversion and the likes, are not Jews, no High Court or any other decision will change that.

Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich called the ruling "outrageous."

"No one has given the High Court the authority to rule on matters pertaining to the very core of Israel's character. It is acceptable to have disagreements and to debate [them], and make a decision as you do in a democracy. [The matter of conversions] will not be ruled on by 15 judges who trampled over the Knesset, the government, the people's sovereignty, and time and again undermine the state's Jewish character," he said.

Far-Right Otzma Yehudit party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir said the ruling "undermines the Jewish identity of the State of Israel" and creates a "dangerous precedent" that could "erase the Jewish majority in the country and turn it into a state of all citizens."

The Tzohar Modern-Orthodox Rabbinical Organization strongly criticized the decision, saying it will "impact the very Jewish future of the state." It further blamed "power brokers" associated with the Chief Rabbinate for allowing this decision to go ahead.

Among those who spoke out in favor of the ruling was Opposition Leader Yair Lapid who said, "Israel must have equal rights for all streams of Judaism – Orthodox, Reform or Conservative. We all need to live here together with tolerance and mutual respect. A sane government will put an end to the situation whereby Israel is the only democracy in the world without freedom of religion for Jews."

Blue and White chief Benny Gantz commended the ruling as well and vowed that as long his party was in the Knesset and the government, it would make sure to preserve the ruling and the independence of the court.

Labor leader Merav Michaeli welcomed the court's decision and said that the party would "continue to work towards a pluralistic and egalitarian society that recognizes all streams of Judaism."

Also praising the ruling, Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Lieberman said that the party would "continue to fight against religious coercion and will preserve the character of the State of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and liberal state."

Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz said that Haredi and religious Zionist leaders "do not have a monopoly over Judaism" and praised the court's decision, as "an important step in the dismantling of the Orthodox monopoly over our lives."

Fellow Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg said, "It is time for Israel to break free of the shackles of the rabbinate's monopoly. Judaism has many varieties – Israeli is the home of all Jews."

Rabbi Dr. Daniel Hartman, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute, whose mission statement is "to strengthen Jewish peoplehood, identity, and pluralism," praised the ruling as "the fulfillment of the vision of Zionism. ...
I sincerely hope that it heralds the beginning of a new discourse on religion and state and the relations between the various tribes within Judaism and within Israeli society."

The Ne'emanei Torah Va'Avodah religious Zionist organization noted that the ruling would have no significant impact as Reform and Conservative conversions are already recognized outside Israel.

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Masorti Movement head Rakefet Ginsberg praised the court's decision describing it as "just, understandable and clear. There is more than one way to be a Jew in Israel."

President and CEO of the Jewish People Policy Institute Professor Yedidia Stern said that the court's decision was "a necessary and obvious ruling for Israel as well as for the Jewish People. As the Nation-State of the Jewish People, anyone who is willing to become a Jew, and convert by any recognized stream, Reform, Conservative or Orthodox, must be allowed to gain citizenship."

Yori Yalon, Dan Lavie, Hanan Greenwood and Yair Altman contributed to this report.

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Netanyahu made his comments shortly after the court heard a second day of arguments in a series of legal challenges to the coalition deal.

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 The court is looking into two key questions: whether a politician facing criminal corruption charges, such as Netanyahu, can form a new government; and whether or not his coalition deal with Gantz violated the law.

Speaking to reporters following a briefing on coronavirus developments, Netanyahu pressed the court not to get involved in the country's political affairs lest it risk forcing new elections.

"We hope the court doesn't interfere. It doesn't need to interfere. There is the will of the people, the clear expression of the will of the people," Netanyahu said.

If a court ruling picks apart the coalition deal, it "increases the chances that we will be dragged to fourth elections, something that will be a catastrophe," he said.

 An unusually large panel of 11 justices, all wearing face masks and separated by plastic barriers, in accordance with Health Ministry regulations, heard the case against the emerging coalition. Reflecting the case's importance, the court took the rare step of streaming the proceedings on its website and on national TV.

After deadlocking in three closely contested election campaigns, Netanyahu and former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Benny Gantz reached a deal last month in which they would be sworn in together for an emergency government ostensibly to battle the coronavirus and its economic fallout.

The deal calls for Netanyahu to serve first as prime minister and Gantz as the designated premier, with the two swapping posts after 18 months. The new position will enjoy all the trappings of the prime minister, including an official residence and – key for Netanyahu – an exemption from a law that requires all public officials, except the prime minister, to resign if charged with a crime.

The court will be asked to rule on this arrangement,  and there is a sense of urgency as Thursday marks the deadline for presenting a new government before new elections are called.

Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Zeev Elkin (Likud) warned that any court intervention could trigger a highly unpopular election.

"The coalition agreement is very complex. Moving a single brick could bring the entire structure down and force fourth elections," Elkin told Army Radio.

Attorney Dafna Holtz-Lechner, who represents one of the petitioners, countered that oversight was required precisely because "someone charged with criminal offenses is also the person who concocted the coalition agreement with all its repercussions for himself."

Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit said in an opinion to the court that while Netanyahu's indictments "raise significant problems," there was no legal basis for barring him from serving while facing criminal charges. But good governance groups have appealed against this, citing the precedent of forcing Cabinet ministers and mayors to resign if indicted.

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According to the poll, some 26% of the public believes that the court's decisions on key issues are "mostly political" and 11% say they are "always political." Only 28% said the High Court's rulings are "mostly professional."

When it comes to the overall trust in the High Court of Justice, the public is split. When asked whether they "generally believe the High Court of Justice," 46% of respondents said they do, while 40% said they don't.

The Israel Defense Forces got the highest score on that question, with 81% of respondents saying they believe the IDF and only 10% saying they do not.

The Knesset also suffers from a trust deficit. Some 67% of respondents said they do not believe the legislature, while only 22% said they do.

Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit, who has led the investigations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in three corruption cases over the past 3 years, has also suffered in public opinion, with only 32% believing him, and 47% saying they do not believe him.

Some 50% justified the High Court of Justice petitions challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's authority to form a fifth government while standing trial for alleged corruption, with 31% saying the legal challenges had no justifiable rationale.

The public was also split on whether the High Court of Justice has the constitutional authority to strike down parts of the coalition deal being negotiated between Netanyahu's Likud party and Blue and White, which is designed to ensure a rotating premiership for the next three years.

The agreement has come under fire because it involves major amendments to Israel's Basic Laws, which serve as the country's de facto constitution.

The poll was conducted by the Maagar Mochot polling institute with a representative sample of 508 Israeli adults selected at random. The margin of error stands at 4.4 percentage points.

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The decision, filed with the High Court of Justice, followed a petition by the Movement for Quality Government, demanding that Netanyahu, who is facing a corruption indictment, vacates all his posts.

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Netanyahu currently holds the health, welfare, agriculture, and Diaspora affairs portfolios. He is expected to appoint ministers for these posts until the March 2, 2020 elections conclude and a new government is sworn in.

Netanyahu's lawyers informed the court that while Israeli law does not preclude an indicted prime minister from staying in office, nor does it require him to relinquish any ministerial post, he will do so out of respect to the judicial process.

They further argued that the law requires a minister to resign only if they have been found guilty of a crime involving moral turpitude.

"It is not the High Court of Justice's place to intervene on the issue of resignation. The interest of maintaining the public's faith in the judiciary mandates that the court uphold the fundamental of the law in this case. Any judicial intervention in this process will be detrimental to the principle of separation of powers, Israeli democracy, and the Knesset's authority to regulate this issue via a basic law, as it has done so far."

As Netanyahu is the first sitting prime minister to be indicted, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit has already weighed in on the administrative-constitutional implications of the situation, which poses a legal precedent.

He ruled that the court has no say on whether Netanyahu should or should not take a leave of absence to sort out his legal situation, saying that "this decision is best left on the political-public sphere."

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Burkov has been in Israeli custody since 2015 and is wanted in the United States for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from American consumers in a massive credit card scheme.

Naama Issachar, 26, was arrested in April after 10 grams of marijuana were found in her luggage during a stopover in Moscow, and sentenced to 7 years in prison for drug trafficking.

Her harsh sentence, even though she had argued that she never intended to sell drugs in Russia, or even to leave the airport, led supporters to believe Issachar was being used as a pawn to secure the transfer of Burkov to Russia.

Last week, Israeli Justice Minister Amir Ohana signed Burkov's extradition order, over the protests of Issachar's family. Ohana said he signed the order only after careful deliberation.

Following the signing of the extradition order, both Burkov and Issachar's family submitted petitions to the High Court against the extradition.

The court on Sunday ruled that the extradition would be postponed until Burkov's petition is discussed and a ruling was issued.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The memo outlines that new measures Likud and the United Right factions plan to pursue once a coalition is formed and a new government is sworn-in aimed at bolstering the powers of the legislative and executive branches. The steps, if passed, would allow the Knesset to overrule a High Court of Justice ruling in certain cases and automatic legal immunity for MKs. It would also make the government the only agency responsible for appointing senior judges, and strip certain powers from the attorney general.

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The memo, which lists 16 separate measures, has been part of the ongoing coalition talks between Likud and the United Right.

Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg slammed Likud over the memo, accusing it of conspiring to break the law with the United Right. "If the attorney general doesn't stop this, I will turn to the High Court of Justice myself," she said.

Blue and White MK Karin Elharrar joined Zandberg, saying, "This is not just some judicial reform plan, it is a plan to eliminate the High Court of Justice and get rid of our gatekeepers, ending the checks and balances and dealing a fatal blow to Israeli democracy."

Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was a candidate on the United Right list during the recent Knesset election, dismissed the criticism. "In a democracy, the people – not the government officials – decide."

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