Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi former Attorney General of the Israel Defense Forces
The former attorney general of the IDF is said to have assumed responsibility for releasing images to the press that would show soldiers beating a Palestinian prisoner, in a case that infuriated the Israeli far right.
The former attorney general of the Israeli Armed Forces, Jufat Tomer-Jerushalmiwas detained as part of an investigation investigating the leak to the press of a video in which Israeli soldiers were allegedly seen torturing a Palestinian detainee, according to information released this Monday by the newspaper .
Tomer-Yerushalmi, who resigned from her position last Friday, is suspected of having obstructed a police investigation into the release of the images. In your resignation letter, you will have assumed responsibility for the leak of the video, stating that he intended to “combat false propaganda directed against the military authorities responsible for applying the law.”
“The Israel Defense Forces are a moral and law-abiding army and therefore, even during a painful and prolonged war, they must investigate illegal acts,” the letter read.
The release of the images provoked violent protests by members of the Israeli far right against the detention of the soldiers accused of torturing the prisoner.
Soldiers under investigation
Israeli media also reported that the former chief prosecutor of the Armed Forces was detained for interrogation.
The video, captured by a surveillance camera, allegedly showed soldiers attacking a militant from the Islamist group Hamas in the Sde Teiman military prison, in southern Israel. THE alleged aggression is not explicitly visibleas the soldiers form a barrier with shields around the detainee. According to reports, the man ended up being hospitalized.
Five members of the army were charged over the incident. Lawyers for the defendants denied allegations that the detainee had also been sexually assaulted. Police opened an investigation to determine whether members of the military prosecutor’s office were involved in releasing the video.
Protests against arrests
In July, the opening of an investigation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to investigate suspicions of torture provoked furious reactions among the Israeli far right. A crowd made up of ultranationalist activists and politicians invaded two military bases to demand the release of nine soldiers who had initially been detained by the military police in connection with the case.
Protesters even invaded the Sde Teiman base, in the south of the country, which had been the target of allegations of abuse against prisoners by activists and NGOs.
Videos recorded several people jumping the base’s fences or forcing the gates. Among the invaders, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, were two deputies and the Minister of Jewish Heritage, Amichai Eliyahu, who in November last year became internationally known for having suggested that the Gaza Strip should be the target of a nuclear attack. The crowd was eventually dispersed by the base guards.
Netanyahu condemns information leaks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the release of the video, classifying the episode as “perhaps the most serious public relations attack Israel has suffered since its founding”and announced the creation of an independent investigation.
On Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz welcomed the prosecutor’s dismissal. “Those who defame Israel Defense Forces soldiers have no place in the Army”he said, according to a statement from his office.
In October 2024, a UN commission concluded that thousands of detainees were subjected to “widespread and systematic abuse” in Israeli military camps and detention centers, which constituted “war crimes and torture against humanity”.
The Israeli government called the accusations “outrageous”, adding that it is “fully committed to international legal standards in the treatment of detainees”.
