Israel's Top Military Lawyer Resigns After Admitting to Leaking Video of Alleged Detainee Abuse

Tel Aviv: In a fallout from a high-profile probe into the mistreatment of a Palestinian prisoner during the Gaza conflict, the Israeli Defense Forces' (IDF) chief legal adviser, Major-General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, announced her resignation on Friday, confessing to authorising the August 2024 release of incriminating security footage.

The video, which captured soldiers isolating a detainee and obscuring their actions with riot shields while a dog loomed nearby, ignited widespread controversy after its broadcast on Israel's N12 News channel. The ensuing investigation resulted in criminal charges against five IDF personnel and sparked intense backlash, including raids by demonstrators on two military installations when authorities attempted to interview troops.

Tomer-Yerushalmi, the Advocate General, explained her decision to leak the material as a defensive measure against what she described as relentless defamation and propaganda targeting the military's legal division, which is tasked with enforcing legal standards amid the ongoing war.

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On Wednesday, Defence Minister Israel Katz revealed an active criminal investigation into the disclosure, placing Tomer-Yerushalmi on administrative suspension. In her farewell statement, she described the detainees at Sde Teiman facility—where Hamas operatives from the October 7, 2023, assault and other Gaza captives are held—as "the most heinous terrorists." Nevertheless, she insisted that no one, regardless of their crimes, is exempt from scrutiny over potential violations.

"Regrettably, this fundamental principle—that certain atrocities cannot be inflicted even on the basest prisoners—is no longer universally accepted," she lamented, underscoring the need to probe all allegations of violence.

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Human rights organisations have documented severe mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli custody since the war's outbreak, though the IDF maintains that such incidents are isolated rather than institutionalised, with numerous cases under active review.

Political reactions were immediate and polarised. Katz condemned the leak as a "fabricated blood libel" against soldiers, declaring anyone involved unfit to wear the IDF uniform. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir hailed the departure as a victory and demanded probes into other judicial figures, while sharing a graphic clip of himself towering over shackled Palestinian inmates—alleged October 7 perpetrators—in a facility, advocating for capital punishment.

The resignations come amid broader tensions over detainee treatment. This month, approximately 1,700 Gaza prisoners were released in a ceasefire deal, swapping them for 20 Israeli hostages. Several of the freed Israelis recounted experiences of torture during their ordeal, with three attributing beatings to retaliatory actions inspired by Ben-Gvir's inflammatory rhetoric on prison reforms. Ben-Gvir dismissed the claims as Hamas propaganda, defending his hardline stance on harsher conditions for Palestinian inmates.