Israel Police issued a statement on Thursday outlining the "conditions" for opening an investigation into the breach of the Sde Teiman military base in August 2024, retracting a previous statement which accused the attorney-general of failing to communicate with police over the probe.
"We regret that the attorney's office and the attorney-general have chosen to communicate with Israel Police through the media rather than in a direct and transparent manner.
"The Police Commissioner and the Head of the Investigations and Intelligence Division have not received an official request regarding the investigation of the ministers and Knesset members, and therefore no investigation will take place until an official request is made to Commissioner Danny Levy and is approved by him, as usual."
This comes after the attorney-general and the state attorney authorized the launch of a criminal investigation into Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and Knesset members Zvi Sukkot and Nissim Vaturi on Wednesday over their alleged involvement in the breach of the Sde Teiman military base.
Sources close to Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara argued that it was the police who initially requested the investigation of public officials, with Baharav-Miara merely approving the request.
The police comments followed the deletion of an earlier statement, which read, "We regret that the attorney's office and the Attorney-General have chosen to communicate with the Israel Police through the media rather than in a direct and transparent manner. The Police Commissioner and the Head of the Investigations and Intelligence Division have not received an official request regarding the investigation of the ministers and Knesset members, and therefore no investigation will take place until an official request is made to the Commissioner and approved by him."
Miara and State Attorney Amit Isman accepted the police's recommendation and approved the warning investigations of Eliyahu, Vaturi, and Sukkot. The three are suspected of involvement in a break-in to the Sde Teiman base. MK Vaturi has already announced that he will not attend the investigation.
Sde Teiman breach
The investigation was initiated after the Military Police arrived at the Sde Teiman base to detain several reserve soldiers suspected of abusing terrorists detained at the facility.
When the investigators arrived, a clash ensued as some attempted to help the soldiers escape. Several Knesset members, including Almog Cohen, Vaturi, Eliyahu, and Sukkot, were at the scene. MK Sukkot broke into the base while one of the officers attempted to stop him.
The MKs joined the crowd, shouting "Death to terrorists."
In August 2024, the attorney general and the attorney's office announced the opening of an investigation into the claims made against the MKs.
The matter was subsequently transferred to the office of the deputy state attorney for special matters.