Top Israeli Lawyer Arrested Over Leaked Prison Video

In a dizzying series of developments, IDF Military Advocate-General Maj.-Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned from her post on Friday around an hour after Defense Minister Israel Katz attempted to fire her.

In her letter of resignation, she stated, “I approved the leaking of evidence to the media in an attempt to confront the false propaganda against the law enforcement officials in the military. I take full responsibility for all of the evidence that was sent out to the media by this unit. Based on this responsibility, I have also decided to conclude my role as the MAG.”

This admission changes the legal and political picture, as initially it seemed that Tomer-Yerushalmi might only be a third-party witness in the case; now she might be a central defendant.

Katz, along with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, agreed that the chief would compile and present a list of recommended replacement candidates to the minister, the military confirmed later on Friday.

This replacement will be “one capable of meeting the significant challenges currently facing the MAG Corps, foremost among them the protection of IDF soldiers,” the military added.

The two officials are “working to establish immediate stability within the MAG Corps, out of their responsibility to the institution and to IDF soldiers,” the statement concluded.

Earlier on Friday morning, Katz surprised the legal establishment with an announcement that he was redefining Tomer-Yerushalmi’s status from suspended to fired due to allegations that either she or her staff was involved in the leaking of a video of the alleged abuse of Palestinian prisoners at the Sde Teiman detention facility.

Katz’s decision followed a development that shook the entire defense establishment on Wednesday, when Zamir suspended Tomer-Yerushalmi in light of a probe by Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara into the leak of a video.

It is not clear whether Katz has the authority to fire the MAG from her post without consulting Baharav-Miara and Zamir.

Top former IDF legal officials told The Jerusalem Post that the defense minister did not have the ability to do so and that only the IDF chief had that power.

However, sources close to the attorney-general showed no sign of intervening to stop the firing, which may have influenced Tomer-Yerushalmi’s decision to resign.

Alternatively, she may have let those sources know she was leaning toward resigning anyway, given her letter that showed a readiness to admit to her role in the case.

Katz made it clear that part of his desire to fire Tomer-Yerushalmi related to his desire to appoint her replacement.

The defense minister has exercised a high level of interference with Zamir’s appointments, whereas usually such ministers approve most appointees suggested by the IDF chief.

An exception occurred with the appointment of Danny Efroni as IDF MAG from 2011 to 2015, with then-defense minister Ehud Barak overriding then-IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi.

In a sign that developments had blindsided many top officials, IDF sources did not even know as of early Wednesday afternoon who was running the IDF legal division during Tomer-Yerushalmi’s suspension.prsio

Katz later added that “all required sanctions would be taken against her, first and foremost, the stripping of her ranks. Whoever levels blood libels against IDF soldiers and prefers the welfare of the terrorists over theirs is not fit to wear an IDF uniform and belongs in prison.”

None of the sources could explain why Tomer-Yerushalmi was only suspended now, when the Sde Teiman case broke into the headlines in July 2024.

However, there were reports that her spokeswoman recently told the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) about leaking the evidence in question and that Tomer-Yerushalmi had approved the leak.

Originally, the most likely candidate to be running the IDF legal division would have seemed to be Deputy MAG Col. Gal Asael.

Tomer-Yerushalmi’s suspension has major strategic implications not only for the Sde Teiman cases but for Israel’s ability to fight international war crimes cases at the International Court of Justice and at the International Criminal Court, as she is the lead legal official deciding such issues.

Further, as the IDF’s top legal official, her suspension could be used by anti-legal establishment politicians to try to further tar and feather the legal class in the country in the ongoing battles over the judiciary and the prosecution.

The government has failed to fire the attorney-general and is trying to potentially split her powers, so firing Tomer-Yerushalmi could be seen by the coalition’s political base as a related political win.

What happened at Sde Teiman, and why is it controversial?

There are multiple Sde Teiman cases.

On February 6, 2024, an IDF court sentenced a reservist who abused Palestinian Gazan detainees in Sde Teiman to seven months imprisonment in the first major jail term handed down to a soldier relating to the war.

Given that the defendant-soldier had spent around 80 days in prison after he was first arrested, he was sent back to prison for around four and a half months.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel at the time called the sentence woefully inadequate for deterring such future conduct.

Pressed by The Jerusalem Post about what length of prison time would have been enough, PCATI only said that it was clear that such a short prison term would not prevent future detainee abuse.

The Post also sought to understand why the IDF Military Prosecution agreed to such a short sentence.

The Military Prosecution, the Post understood at the time, did view the beatings as extra serious because they happened so many times to many different detainees despite other soldiers telling the defendant to stop.

However, the Military Prosecution also gave credit to the defendant for confessing his crimes up-front and agreeing to a plea deal to save the prosecution and the courts’ time, resources, and the need to prove many points at trial.

Finally, the Military Prosecution and the court took into account that the defendant and his family had experienced some of the horrors of October 7, 2023, up close, which left the defendant traumatized.

In addition to the prison sentence for this “small” Sde Teiman abuse case, the defendant-soldier was also given potential additional prison time if he re-violates certain laws and was demoted to the rank of private.

In the “large” Sde Teiman abuse case, five soldier-defendants were indicted on February 19 for sexual assault.

Pre-indictment hearings were held in the “large” case in November 2024, and sources denied to the Post that there had been delays in deciding that case due to fears of political fallout from the right-wing coalition government.

In that case, masses of right-wing activists, including some Knesset members, broke into an IDF facility to interfere with the arrests of the soldiers accused of abusing Palestinian detainees.

However, in light of the latest developments, it is also possible that the indictments were delayed by the separate probe into the leaking of a surveillance video from the Sde Teiman detention facility, which allegedly showed soldiers severely abusing a Palestinian detainee.

A vague IDF statement on Wednesday said that Tomer-Yerushalmi’s suspension was self-initiated and voluntary, but a statement by the attorney-general made it clear that the probe into who leaked the video involves Tomer-Yerushalmi herself and likely members of her staff, such that even if she was not directly involved, it would be problematic for her to manage the case.

Katz, on Wednesday, applauded her suspension and said that the Sde Teiman case was a “blood libel” against Israeli soldiers, though to date, there is heavy evidence that the soldiers did commit crimes against the Palestinian detainee.

The probe into the video leak suggested that in parallel to those soldiers committing alleged crimes, IDF officials, including possibly within the IDF legal division, may have also committed a violation or crime by leaking evidence against the soldiers.

Tomer-Yerushalmi’s resignation letter may signal that she will plead guilty to the charges, though she may be able to present extenuating circumstances to limit the severity of any punishment.

It is also possible that the leaked video was edited in a way to try to make the charges appear more severe, but no argument has been made to date that the incident did not occur.

Instead, the focus of the soldiers’ defense teams has been to try to slow and undermine the prosecution’s case by going after the leak of the video and claiming that the soldiers acted in self-defense.

Despite the defense lawyers’ claims, the Post has been informed of significant evidence, along with the indictment itself, which would undermine a clean self-defense claim.

Sde Teiman is a military base in the Negev that was turned into a detention facility during the Israel-Hamas War. It held Palestinians captured in Gaza under the Unlawful Combatants Law, which allows temporary detention without a court order.

There were serious abuse allegations at the Sde Teiman facility. Reports by various media outlets described beatings, prolonged blindfolding, lack of medical care, and other mistreatment of detainees.

On July 29, 2024, the Military Police arrested nine reservists suspected of severely abusing a Palestinian detainee at the facility. The detainee had serious internal injuries, including broken ribs and rectal tearing, according to reports.

The arrests sparked protests by far-right activists, families of soldiers, and several MKs, who claimed the soldiers were being punished for doing their job.

Demonstrators gathered at the Sde Teiman base and later at Beit Lid, where the suspects were being held. Some broke through the gates of military property; among them were lawmakers.