His chief legal adviser resigned on Friday amid a criminal investigation into the leaking of a video that appeared to show soldiers abusing a Palestinian prisoner captured during the Gaza war.
Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who holds the rank of lieutenant general, said she was resigning because she had approved the leak of the video in August 2024, Reuters reported.
The abuse investigation led to criminal charges against five soldiers and caused an uproar. The investigation drew condemnation from right-wing politicians and prompted protesters to storm two military installations after investigators called for soldiers to be questioned in the case.
A week after the base break-in, a security camera video showing the moments of the alleged abuse was leaked to the Israeli channel N12 News.
In the video, soldiers were seen taking a prisoner aside and surrounding him, holding a dog and blocking the view of their actions with their riot gear. On Wednesday, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said a criminal investigation was underway into the leak of the video and that Tomer-Yerushalmi had been placed on forced leave.
Tomer-Yerushalmi defended her actions as an attempt to fend off propaganda against the military’s legal department, which is charged with upholding the rule of law and which she said had suffered slander throughout the war.
The footage came from the Sde Teiman detention camp, where some of the Hamas fighters who took part in the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war are being held, along with Palestinians captured in the following months of fighting in Gaza.
Human rights organizations have reported serious violations of the rights of Palestinians held by Israel during the war. The Israeli military is investigating dozens of cases, but says the violations are not systematic.
Tomer-Yerushalmi called the Sde Teiman detainees “terrorists of the worst kind” in her resignation letter, but added that this did not absolve her of the obligation to investigate suspected violations.
“Unfortunately, this basic notion – that there are acts to which even the most wretched prisoners should not be subjected – is no longer persuasive for everyone,” he said.
Some politicians were quick to take advantage of the resignation. Katz stated that anyone who manufactures “slander against Israeli soldiers is not worthy to wear the uniform of the IDF.”
Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir welcomed the resignation and called for an investigation by more legal authorities.
He also posted a video of himself standing over Palestinian prisoners tied to the floor of an Israeli prison, saying they were the perpetrators of the October 7 attack and should be given the death penalty.
About 1,700 Gazan prisoners were freed this month as part of the Gaza ceasefire in exchange for 20 Israeli hostages, some of whom said they were tortured and ill-treated during their captivity.
Three of them told the Israeli press that they were sometimes beaten by their captors in retaliation for Ben-Gvir’s statements, which boasted of worsening the detention conditions of Palestinians. Ben-Gvir responded that these accusations serve Hamas’ interests.
