Minister accuses Israeli A-G of coup d’etat after prison service chief detained for questioning

Itamar Ben-Gvir, who appointed Kobi Yaakobi, accused the attorney-general of attempting a “coup” against him with the move.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The head of Israel’s Prison Service (IPS) was detained for questioning Monday along with two senior police officers, in a case that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called part of an attempted “coup” against him.

While there is an official gag order on the case, according to Ma’ariv, Chief Superintendent Kobi Yaakobi was mainly questioned about having allegedly passed on information from a senior police officer to Ben-Gvir regarding administrative arrests of right-wing activists.

The deputy superintendent who allegedly leaked the classified information supposedly did so in return for a promotion that Yaakobi allegedly advocated for him. The officer’s arrest on suspicion of bribery was extended until Thursday, Ynet reported.

A second police officer has also been detained on several charges, including failure to fulfill his duty, and misuse of authority.

Other Hebrew media reported that during the 12-hour interrogation, Yaakobi was questioned about an incident in which he allegedly asked a policewoman to have a third party delete messages on Telegram that were considered damaging to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Ynet reported that the third party was given the impression that his career advancement was on the line if he rejected the request.

Yaakobi himself is suspected of obstruction of an investigative process and committing “breach of trust,” an amorphous charge that is considered difficult to prove.

He was released after the interrogation on condition that he does not contact any other suspects in the case and does not speak publicly about it.

In a statement to Channel 12 Monday, he therefore said that he could not speak freely but that he has “nothing to hide and nothing to hide from.”

Yaakobi is close to Ben-Gvir, who appointed him to his position after he had served as Ben-Gvir’s security adviser.

The National Security Minister blasted the arrests and interrogations as a way for Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara to get to him, as his ministry is in charge of both the police and prison service.

“The attorney general and the State Prosecutor’s Office are using the Department of Internal Police Investigations to deter a very senior officer in the Prison Service and police officers from carrying out my policy and that of the right-wing government,” Ben Gvir wrote on X Monday before Yaakobi’s name was allowed to be published.

He went so far as to call her move an attempted “coup,” saying, “The decision to investigate officers who are operating according to my policies is a political decision that aims to overthrow the right-wing government.”

Ben-Gvir gave Yaakobi his “full support,” saying, “As Commissioner, he has revolutionized the IPS, achieving governance and order within the organization.”

Baharav-Miara, he added, “did not like the changes and policies [Yaakobi] implemented, but in a democratic country, there is no room for ‘framing a case’ against someone whose views and policies are not the same as yours.”

The attorney-general has fiercely criticized Ben-Gvir several times for acting improperly and even illegally since he came into office, especially in the area of intervening in police operations, which she said the minister is barred from doing.