Israeli police have arrested Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the former Military Advocate General, following a political firestorm over the leaking of a video allegedly showing severe abuse of a Palestinian detainee. Her detention comes after a brief disappearance and heightens divisions across Israel over military accountability.
Tomer-Yerushalmi stepped down last week, accepting responsibility for authorizing the video’s release. She told senior officials she acted “in an attempt to counter false propaganda against the army’s law enforcement authorities.”
On Sunday, she was reported missing, triggering a wide search along a beach north of Tel Aviv. Police later found her alive and well in Herzliya, and subsequently took her into custody. Two individuals, including Tomer-Yerushalmi and former chief military prosecutor Col. Matan Solomosh, were arrested on suspicion of leaking classified material and related offenses.
At the time of her disappearance, she was expected to be questioned in an ongoing criminal inquiry into the leak.
The controversy centers on a video first aired in August 2024 showing reserve soldiers at the Sde Teiman detention facility allegedly abusing a Palestinian detainee. In the footage, troops are seen taking the detainee aside, surrounding him with riot shields (obscuring visibility). Later he was treated for serious rectal and bodily injuries.
Following the video’s broadcast, five reservists were charged with aggravated abuse and causing serious bodily harm. They deny the allegations.
At a news conference outside the Supreme Court, four of the soldiers appeared in balaclavas, accusing the trial process of bias and calling for dismissal. Their attorney from the right-wing legal group Honenu described the proceedings as “faulty, biased and completely cooked-up.”
In October, the detainee was released to Gaza in a prisoner swap involving Palestinians held without charge in exchange for hostages.
After her resignation, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tomer-Yerushalmi would not return to her post and disparaged those who spread what he called “blood libels against IDF troops,” declaring them unfit for uniform.
In turn, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the footage leak “perhaps the most severe public relations attack that the State of Israel has experienced since its establishment.”
Africa Digital News, New York
