Jerusalem (Somalia Today) — Israeli police have arrested the military’s former top prosecutor over a scandal involving a leaked video of alleged detainee abuse, escalating a case that has divided the country and drawn condemnation from the prime minister.
Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was detained overnight Monday, officials said. She admitted to leaking footage of alleged detainee abuse at a military base.
A second former prosecutor, Col. Matan Solomesh, was also arrested in connection with the case.
The arrests capped a dramatic weekend that included Tomer-Yerushalmi’s brief disappearance on Sunday, which sparked a massive search after her car was found abandoned at a Tel Aviv beach.
Sde Teiman video leak
The case centers on surveillance footage from the Sde Teiman military base, a detention facility in southern Israel holding Palestinians captured during the war in Gaza.
The video, broadcast by Israel’s Channel 12 in August 2024, appeared to show soldiers abusing a Palestinian detainee. While the alleged acts were obscured by troops holding up shields, the footage triggered international outrage and protests within Israel.
Military prosecutors later charged five reservist soldiers in February, accusing them of severe violence against the detainee stemming from an incident on July 5, 2024.
The indictment described “acting against the detainee with severe violence, including stabbing the detainee’s bottom with a sharp object.” It added that the abuse caused “severe physical injury,” including cracked ribs, a punctured lung, and an internal rectal tear.
The Sde Teiman facility was opened to hold a large influx of Palestinian detainees captured during the Gaza war. Human rights groups have alleged widespread misconduct at the site.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the video’s release perhaps the “most severe public relations attack” on Israel in its history. The leak and subsequent investigation have fueled intense political division.
Resignation and arrest
Tomer-Yerushalmi had been on leave before she resigned on Friday, acknowledging in a letter published by Israeli media that her office had approved the video’s release last year.
On Sunday, she was reported missing for several hours. Her family contacted the police, and her car was found at Hatzuk Beach. Hebrew media reported she had left a letter at home, sparking a large search by police and military forces.
Authorities located her alive and well hours later in the nearby city of Herzliya. She was arrested shortly after.
A Tel Aviv court ordered her remand in custody until noon on Wednesday, public broadcaster Kan reported.
She is suspected of “fraud and breach of trust, abuse of office, obstruction of justice and disclosure of information by a public servant,” the report said. Solomesh, the former chief military prosecutor, faces related suspicions.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hard-right politician who has criticized the investigation into the soldiers, confirmed Tomer-Yerushalmi’s detention in a statement on Telegram.
‘Incitement’ and political fallout
The Israel video leak scandal has exposed deep fissures in the country. Tomer-Yerushalmi faced intense attacks from hard-right politicians and their supporters, who accused her of betrayal and “spreading a blood libel” against soldiers.
Following her disappearance, opposition leaders blamed the political climate for her distress.
The Democratic Party leader, Yair Golan, said she faced the “same method of labeling ‘traitors'” directed at Yitzhak Rabin. The assassinated former prime minister’s 30th assassination anniversary is this week.
President Isaac Herzog appealed for calm. “Words that spiral out of control ignite a dangerous fire — and endanger lives,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter. “It is now essential to lower the flames.”
Reporting from Ramallah, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said the focus on the leaker has overshadowed the original crime. “It’s a way to shift attention from the fact that these crimes are happening,” Odeh said.
Defense Minister Israel Katz met with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi on Sunday to discuss appointing a new military advocate general. Reports suggest Katz prefers a candidate from “outside the system” to manage the fallout from the Israel video leak scandal.
Halevi said he had “full confidence” in the military’s legal office to “emerge stronger from this difficult event” and continue operating according to the law.
