The legal quagmire over an explosive video leak showed no signs of clearing up on Tuesday, after the High Court of Justice again rejected Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s top candidate to lead an investigation into the scandal.

In response, Levin launched a diatribe at the court, accusing it of “desperately clinging to its power.”

The decision means that the court battle over the probe into leaked footage of alleged abuse of a Palestinian inmate at the Sde Teiman military detention facility will continue. Even though the investigation lacks a supervisor, police have said that the probe will be wrapped up in the coming days or weeks.

Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the former military advocate-general, has admitted she authorized the leak of the footage and faces criminal charges. The court has empowered Levin to choose someone to oversee a probe into the leak, but has set limitations on who he can select. So far, the court has nixed his first two choices.

Levin then asked the court again to allow him to appoint his initial candidate,  State Ombudsman for Judges Asher Kula, whom the judges had already rejected due to explicit stipulations in the law that the state ombudsman for judges may serve in no other role.

Levin sent what he called a “clarification” to the court last week, saying he could not find anyone who met the court’s criteria. He suggested........

© The Times of Israel