Ex-IDF Legal Chief Arrested after Leaked Video of Alleged Detainee Abuse Detonates Political Firestorm

BBC, the Times of Israel, the Guardian, Bloomberg, and the Financial Times contributed to this report.

Israel’s former top military lawyer has gone from whistleblower to detainee.

Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who resigned last week as the Israel Defense Forces’ Military Advocate General, was arrested after admitting she approved the leak of surveillance footage that allegedly shows reserve soldiers at the Sde Teiman base beating a Palestinian detainee and stabbing him in the rectum with a sharp object. The man was later treated for severe injuries.

A weekend of whiplash

• Missing, then found, then cuffed: On Sunday, police launched a beachside search north of Tel Aviv after Tomer-Yerushalmi was reported missing. She was found “safe and in good health” in Herzliya—then taken into custody.

• Two arrests: Police said two people were detained over “leaking and other serious offenses.” Israeli media identified them as Tomer-Yerushalmi and former chief military prosecutor Col. Matan Solomosh. A judge ordered Tomer-Yerushalmi held for two days; she’s appealing the remand, arguing the judge cited the wrong legal standard.

The clip, aired by an Israeli channel in August 2024, was recorded at Sde Teiman, a southern Israel detention site. It appears to show reservists shielding a detainee with riot gear and then carrying out the assault. Five reservists were later charged with aggravated abuse and causing serious bodily harm; they deny wrongdoing and haven’t been named.

The detainee at the center of the case was released to Gaza in October as part of a prisoner exchange tied to hostages held since Oct. 7, 2023.

How we got here

• Backlash and a leak: After military police first questioned 11 reservists in July 2024, far-right protesters — including coalition lawmakers — stormed Sde Teiman. Tomer-Yerushalmi says she authorized releasing material to counter “false propaganda” portraying army law enforcers as traitors.

• Resignation under fire: Defense Minister Israel Katz barred her return from leave; she then resigned, saying she takes “full responsibility” for anything her unit released. A criminal probe into the leak was opened the same week.

The Sde Teiman affair has become a proxy war between Israel’s right and left:

• The right: Calls the leak a smear of IDF soldiers — “blood libels,” in Katz’s words. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the episode “perhaps the most severe PR attack” Israel has faced.

• The left and rights groups: Say the video corroborates documented abuse of Palestinian detainees and that Tomer-Yerushalmi, for once, acted in line with her mandate to investigate credible violence. UN experts have previously alleged widespread mistreatment; Israel rejects claims of systematic abuse and says it follows international law and probes complaints.

Four masked reservists appeared outside the Supreme Court on Sunday with lawyers from the right-wing group Honenu, demanding the case be tossed as “biased” and “cooked up.” Meanwhile, police say they suspect Tomer-Yerushalmi of offenses including disclosure of official information and obstruction.

The episode leaves Israel’s justice system in a bind: prosecuting alleged torture while prosecuting the official who exposed it. For critics, that’s the point; for supporters of the arrest, leaking evidence undermined due process and the court itself.

A brutal clip meant to prove the state can police its own has instead ignited a brawl over who’s protecting Israel’s image — and who’s protecting the law.