Police detective involved in Netanyahu trial promoted despite Ben Gvir’s objection |
After a yearlong legal battle over her promotion, Israel Police detective Rinat Saban was granted the rank of chief superintendent Tuesday, despite National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s vehement opposition to the move.
Since March 2025, the far-right politician has refused to sign off on Saban’s promotion — widely supported by police senior command — due to her role in probing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and later testifying in his corruption trial.
The Jerusalem District Court issued a ruling in February calling Ben Gvir’s refusal unlawful, saying it likely stemmed from “extraneous considerations.” The presiding judge ordered the politician to sign off on her promotion, but he did not budge.
Last week, the court gave Ben Gvir a five-day deadline to comply with the decision, by the end of which Saban would be promoted with or without his approval.
Ben Gvir filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the move Tuesday morning, in what appeared to be a last-ditch effort to halt the promotion.
“A minister is not a rubber stamp and he will not lie to himself and appoint someone who violated the law a countless number of times,” he wrote in his court filing.
However, the appeal wasn’t filed in time to freeze the move, and hours after Saban received the promotion, Supreme Court Justice Alex Stein rejected Ben Gvir’s request to issue a stay of execution order.
Up until recently, the minister’s signature for most police appointments was seen as little more than a formality, not meant to grant elected officials power over the promotion process. But Ben Gvir has eroded this norm since taking office.
In accordance with the court ruling, Saban received her rank without the minister’s signature in a small ceremony. The event was held in Jerusalem and attended by her commanding officer, Deputy Commissioner Boaz Blatt, who heads the police’s investigations and intelligence division.
שמעו זה לא יאמן.מפכ"ל המשטרה הבריז מטקס הענקת הדרגה לרינת סבן. ראש אגף החקירות בועז בלט העניק את הדרגה בעצמו. pic.twitter.com/yHpiyw39FA — Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) March 24, 2026
שמעו זה לא יאמן.מפכ"ל המשטרה הבריז מטקס הענקת הדרגה לרינת סבן. ראש אגף החקירות בועז בלט העניק את הדרגה בעצמו. pic.twitter.com/yHpiyw39FA
— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) March 24, 2026
“When there is something worth fighting for, we will fight for it,” Saban said during the ceremony, as quoted by the Kan public broadcaster.
“God willing, we will celebrate Ruti [Hauslich] at her promotion ceremony,” the newly promoted cop added, referring to another female police investigator whose advancement is being held up by Ben Gvir.
Hauslich, who also serves under Blatt in the police’s investigations and intelligence division, reportedly butted heads with Ben Gvir in several meetings.
The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in the Tel Aviv District police station in the presence of commissioner Danny Levy, but the top cop declined to attend at the last minute, according to Kan.
Levy expressed support for Saban’s promotion, but refrained from harsh criticism of Ben Gvir, amid accusations that the latter has tried to shape his decision-making. Tensions between the two sometimes bubbled to the surface during public appearances.
Several Hebrew media reports this week have also pointed to rising tensions between Ben Gvir and Blatt.
Critics, among them legal officials, have claimed the former exerts undue influence over police work and threatens to erode the force’s independence.
According to several sources who spoke to the Haaretz daily, Levy started to consider sacking Blatt after he opposed the commissioner’s attempts to exert influence over the division, apparently under pressure from Ben Gvir.
The Tuesday report cited an unnamed law enforcement official who lamented that Levy is “playing into Ben Gvir’s hands” with the potential move.
“Blatt is the sole officer in the senior command that doesn’t bow to Ben Gvir despite the police chief,” he said, noting that the top investigator is also “not in direct contact” with the minister.
A retired police investigator close to Blatt similarly told The Times of Israel that the chief investigator has drawn Ben Gvir’s ire because he works according to “professional standards, rather than political desires and interests.”
On Sunday, the pro-government Channel 14 outlet reported that Levy struck down Blatt’s bid to summon Netanyahu to provide testimony regarding suspicions his chief of staff had tried to interfere with an investigation.
Ben Gvir has also attempted to limit the division’s ability to probe incitement cases, and earlier this year founded a new department, subordinate to the deputy police chief, meant to probe alleged terror-linked incitement.
The department’s official status was unclear, but it appeared to be handling at least some incitement-related cases after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara called on police Sunday to immediately halt the fledgling body’s operations.
The letter was sent by her office in the wake of a Kan report claiming the department’s chief, Chief Superintendent Udi Ronen, asked officers to send him names of people that “bother” them — with the goal of monitoring their social media and potentially launching investigations into their posts.
Following the Iran war’s outbreak, the National Security Ministry touted efforts to crack down on what it deems incitement, though lawyers have said the campaign — seemingly egged on by Ben Gvir — is meant to curb free speech and dissent under the guise of wartime security.
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