The former top legal official in the Israeli military has been taken into custody as a controversy surrounding the leak of a video depicting alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee continues to grow.
Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who previously served as the Military Advocate General for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), resigned from her post last week. She stated that she took full responsibility for the release of the video material.
The situation took a dramatic turn on Sunday when reports emerged that she had gone missing, prompting a significant search operation by police along a beach north of Tel Aviv. She was later found safe, but was subsequently arrested.
The ongoing fallout from the leaked video has become a focal point of the national discourse. The footage, reportedly filmed at the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel in August 2024, appears to show reserve soldiers surrounding a detainee with riot shields while allegedly subjecting him to abuse, including being beaten and stabbed with a sharp object. The detainee reportedly suffered severe injuries requiring treatment.
Following the incident, five reservists were charged with aggravated abuse and causing serious bodily harm. They have denied the allegations and their identities have not been disclosed. During a press conference outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, lawyers representing four of the reservists, who attended with their faces concealed by balaclavas, demanded the dismissal of the charges.
Adi Keidar, a lawyer from the legal aid organization Honenu, criticized the legal process as “faulty, biased and completely cooked-up.”
The leak has exacerbated existing political divisions within Israel, with right-wing factions denouncing the video’s release as a smear campaign against the IDF and an act of treason. Conversely, many on the left view Gen. Tomer-Yerushalmi’s decision to allow the footage to be made public as a rare instance of accountability in her role.
The video is seen by critics as corroborating numerous reports of mistreatment of Palestinian detainees that have surfaced since the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023. A UN commission report from last October also detailed allegations of widespread abuse, including torture and sexual violence, against thousands of detainees from Gaza.
Israel’s government has rejected these accusations, asserting its commitment to international legal standards and claiming that all complaints are thoroughly investigated. However, Defense Minister Israel Katz publicly condemned Gen. Tomer-Yerushalmi’s actions, stating that “Anyone who spreads blood libels against IDF troops is unfit to wear the army’s uniform.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed this sentiment, describing the incident as “perhaps the most severe public relations attack that the State of Israel has experienced since its establishment.”
The disappearance and subsequent arrest of Gen. Tomer-Yerushalmi have added a new layer of intrigue to the unfolding scandal, raising concerns about potential political ramifications and the integrity of the investigation.