The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court today (Thursday) ordered the release to house arrest of Commander Avishai Mualem, commander of the Israel Police in Judea and and Samaria, who was arrested and questioned by the Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) on Monday on suspicion of bribery, breach of trust, and abuse of office.
DIPI waived the possibility of filing an appeal against the decision.
A statement issued by DIPI clarified that the Shin Bet had no connection to the affair. "The investigation file was opened following intelligence information that reached the Disclosure Team in the Department of Internal Police Investigations. Following the information received, the investigation began as an undercover investigation that became public last week. Contrary to what is claimed, the Shin Bet (ISA) did not initiate the investigation and is not even involved in its management. The investigation is being conducted by the Department of Internal Police Investigations."
DIPI also noted that "the main suspicion in the case is suspicion of bribery and breach of trust attributed to the main suspect. At the same time, a suspicion of passing information to the main suspect about the undercover investigation that was conducted against him is also being investigated."
Earlier today, it was announced that Mualem is suspected of having avoided arresting far-right activists at the request of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, ostensibly in order to advance his position. It was also suspected that he had leaked sensitive information about administrative arrests to the minister.
According to the investigation, Mualem ignored Shin Bet demands to arrest right-wing activists who were involved in riots against Arabs, allegedly as part of a coordinated operation. A police officer with the rank of superintendent was also involved in the affair, and was questioned for 13 hours yesterday.