Journalism of Courage
The former top lawyer of the Israeli military has been arrested after she admitted to leaking a video that showed the abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli soldiers.
Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned last week as the Military Advocate General of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), saying she took full responsibility for the leak.
Police launched a search for her on Sunday after she was reported missing. She was later found alive on a beach north of Tel Aviv and taken into custody, Reuters said.
The leaked video, broadcast by an Israeli news channel in August 2024, appeared to show soldiers at the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel surrounding a Palestinian detainee and assaulting him. The detainee was later treated for severe injuries.
Five reserve soldiers were charged with aggravated abuse and causing serious harm. They denied the allegations. On Sunday, four of them appeared outside Israel’s Supreme Court wearing masks, calling for their trial to be dropped. Their lawyer, Adi Keidar, said the case was based on “a faulty and biased legal process”.
Last week, Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said Gen Tomer-Yerushalmi would not be allowed to return to her post. Shortly after, she resigned, writing in her letter that she had “approved the release of material to the media to counter false propaganda against the army’s law enforcement authorities”.
She added: “It is our duty to investigate whenever there is reasonable suspicion of acts of violence against a detainee.”
Katz later criticised her actions, saying, “Anyone who spreads blood libels against IDF troops is unfit to wear the army’s uniform.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the leak “perhaps the most severe public relations attack that the State of Israel has experienced since its establishment.”
Police said two people Gen Tomer-Yerushalmi and former chief military prosecutor Col Matan Solomosh were arrested on suspicion of “leaking and other serious criminal offences”.
The incident at Sde Teiman has highlighted political divisions within Israel. Right-wing groups have called the leak an act of betrayal, while critics say the video confirms reports of abuse of Palestinian detainees after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks.
A UN commission of inquiry previously reported that thousands of detainees from Gaza had been subjected to “systematic abuse, physical and psychological violence, and sexual and gender-based violence amounting to war crimes”. Israel rejected those claims, saying it was committed to international law and had investigated every complaint.
