Israeli authorities said on Sunday that they had detained Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the nation’s former top military lawyer, on suspicion of “serious criminal offenses” related to her role in leaking a video showing Israeli soldiers brutally assaulting a Palestinian detainee.
Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned Friday as the military advocate general, the most senior official overseeing Israel’s military justice system. Her resignation followed mounting controversy over her admission that she had authorized the release of the footage, which she said was an effort to counter misinformation about the military’s conduct during the ongoing war in Gaza.
“As the person standing at the head of the military prosecution, and out of a sense of deep responsibility to the military, to the unit, and my soldiers, I approved releasing the material to the media in an effort to thwart the false propaganda against law enforcement in the military,” Tomer-Yerushalmi wrote in her resignation letter. She did not address allegations that she later tried to conceal her role in the leak.
The video in question showed Israeli reservists assaulting a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman military facility in southern Israel in 2024. The images, widely circulated online and by international media, intensified criticism of Israel’s handling of Palestinian prisoners and renewed scrutiny of conditions at Sde Teiman, which has been used to detain suspects during the Gaza conflict.
Israeli prosecutors have since indicted five reservists on charges of assaulting the prisoner. According to the indictment, the soldiers allegedly beat the man for 15 minutes while he was blindfolded and shackled, kicking him and using a Taser on various parts of his body, including his head, before stabbing him in the backside. The case surfaced after doctors reported the injuries to authorities, according to the Journal.
The allegations have divided Israeli society, exposing tensions between those who insist on maintaining accountability for misconduct and those who view such investigations as undermining troops in wartime. Many on the right have argued that prosecuting soldiers amid an ongoing conflict risks damaging morale and emboldening Israel’s enemies.
In recent months, the case prompted a fierce backlash from right-wing activists and lawmakers who accused the military’s legal branch of betraying the soldiers. Some protesters stormed the Sde Teiman base after news of the indictments broke, demanding an end to what they called politically motivated prosecutions.
Tomer-Yerushalmi, long seen as a defender of the rule of law within the military, became a target of online abuse after her role in the leak was confirmed. The backlash intensified in recent days, and police later reported concerns for her safety after she disappeared for several hours. She was found Sunday evening on a beach in central Israel.
A lawyer representing Tomer-Yerushalmi declined to comment on her detention.
Her case comes at a sensitive moment for Israel, as the country faces international criticism for its conduct in Gaza and internal debates over the limits of accountability during wartime. For many conservatives, the controversy underscores the growing strain between maintaining discipline and protecting the men and women fighting on the front lines.
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