Former top Israeli military lawyer was arrested after a leaked video purportedly depicting abuse of Palestinian detainees
Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the former senior attorney for the IDF, was arrested following the release of a video purportedly demonstrating grave abuse of a Palestinian detainee.
In the midst of a growing legal and political crisis around a leaked video purportedly depicting serious abuse of a Palestinian inmate by Israeli soldiers, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the former Israeli military chief counsel, was detained.
Tomer-Yerushalmi, who was in charge of the footage’s distribution, resigned last week as the Israel Defence Forces’ (IDF) Military Advocate General. After police opened a criminal investigation into the leak, she was placed on temporary leave and later resigned.
In the August 2024 broadcast, reservists at the Sde Teiman facility are seen allegedly using a sharp weapon to beat and seriously injure a detainee while hiding him from view. Five reservists are accused of causing serious bodily harm and aggravated abuse; they reject the charges.
After being held as a captive by Hamas since October 7, 2023, the detainee was freed to Gaza in October as part of a prisoner swap with the organization.
Israel Katz, the defense minister, denounced her behavior after she resigned, saying that anyone who spreads “blood libels” against the IDF is unsuitable to serve. “Perhaps the most severe public relations attack that the State of Israel has experienced since its establishment,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of the incident.
Tomer-Yerushalmi was reported missing on a beach north of Tel Aviv just hours after the resignation. After a thorough search, she was eventually located unharmed. She was arrested overnight on accusations of leaking secret documents, together with Col. Matan Solomosh, the former senior military prosecutor.
Israel’s political divides have grown as a result of the Sde Teiman incident. While left-leaning groups see the leak as proof of systemic abuse, referencing a UN report that claims pervasive maltreatment of Palestinian captives since the Hamas attacks in October 2023, right-wing factions condemn it as defamation of the IDF.
Israel denies claims of widespread torture and abuse and insists it is dedicated to upholding international legal norms while looking into all complaints.
