The former chief legal officer of the Israeli Defense Forces, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, has been arrested after resigning and admitting that she leaked a video showing soldiers assaulting a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman prison, a facility notorious for reports of torture. She had previously denied the accusation in court.
The footage, broadcast by Israeli media in August 2024, shows soldiers escorting a detainee, surrounding him with shields to block visibility, and, according to reports, beating him and stabbing him in the rectum with a sharp object. The victim was hospitalized with serious injuries, including broken ribs, a punctured lung, and anal trauma.
Her arrest—on charges including obstruction of justice—raises serious questions about the rule of law in Israel, according to The Guardian.
An internal IDF investigation began in July 2024. Upon her resignation, Tomer-Yerushalmi said she had authorized the video’s release in order to reduce the wave of attacks targeting the military prosecutors and investigators handling the case. During the investigation, 11 soldiers were detained; the far right labeled them “heroes,” attacked the investigators, and demanded that the proceedings be halted.
Her arrest—on charges including abuse of authority, obstruction of justice, and disclosure of official information by a public official—has sparked debate about the state of the rule of law in Israel, The Guardian reports.
Source: BBC, Guardian
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