Israel has been rocked by a major scandal, or as Benjamin Netanyahu calls it, the most “severe public relations attack” since the founding of the state in 1948. On Monday, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was detained by Israeli police following a dramatic resignation.
Israel’s Military Advocate General Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, at the supreme court in Jerusalem.(AP File)
The former military prosecutor resigned last week, and in her letter, which has rocked Tel Aviv, she admitted to having leaked a video of IDF soldiers sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee.
Tomer-Yerushalmi submitted her resignation and then disappeared. As the manhunt continued for her, the police found her car abandoned near a beach and a cryptic note for her family, make authorities believe that she may have attempted suicide.
After this discovery, an intensive search was called for the former IDF official, which included the use of military drones. Tomer-Yerushalmi was found alive on Sunday night and was immediately taken into custody.
Video highlights abuse of Palestinian detainees
It’s no secret that Palestinian detainees have been severely abused by IDF soldiers in Israel. During the hostage release amid the truce, several detainees returned to Gaza with broken or severed limbs and other signs of torture at the hands of Israeli soldiers.
Furthermore, the detention and abuse against Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg further confirmed the accusations against the Israeli military.
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The video leak, which has sparked a storm in Israel shows, first surfaced in August 2024 on an Israeli news channel. The footage shows reserve soldiers at a southern Israel miliary base taking a Palestinian detainee aside.
The soldiers then proceed to surround him with riot shields to block the scene from security cameras. During this, the soldiers in question took turns to beat and stab the detainee in the rectum with a knife.
Following the abuse, the detainee was rushed to a hospital for treatment, where doctors indicated severe physical injuries, including cracked ribs, a punctured lung and an inner rectal tear.
Five soldiers were charged in the case for “acting against the detainee with severe violence, including stabbing the detainee’s bottom with a sharp object, which had penetrated near the detainee’s rectum”.
On Monday it was revealed that the detainee at the centre of the case was released in October as part of the hostage exchange with Hamas.
Why did Tomer-Yerushalmi leak the video?
In her resignation letter, the former military lawyer said she leaked the video in order to counter the “false propaganda against the army’s law enforcement authorities”‘
This comes as a reference to efforts of right-wing politicians who claim all reports of severe abuse of Palestinian detainees have and are being fabricated.
“It is our duty to investigate whenever there is reasonable suspicion of acts of violence against a detainee,” she wrote in her letter.
“Unfortunately, this basic understanding — that there are actions which must never be taken even against the vilest of detainees — no longer convinces everyone,” she added.
‘We can resume the lynch’
After the former IDF lawyer was found, the Netanyahu-led government continued to lash out against the prosecutor and her actions, which many labelled as “treason” and betrayal of the highest order.
More flak for the lawyer came after she was found by police on Sunday night.
“We can resume the lynch,” right-wing TV personality Yinon Magal, an ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, posted on X with a winking-face emoji.
Furthermore, police inputs regarding her disappearance, abandoned car and phones, politicians have accused her of staging a suicide attempt to destroy political evidence.
Where does the case stand now?
The five reservist soldiers who were charged with severe abuse were at a court hearing on Monday. However, the anger over the leak of the video has surpassed the anger that should have grown due to the abuse of the detainee.
All five have denied the charges against them,
On Sunday, four of the reservists wore black balaclavas to hide their faces as they appeared at a news conference outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem along with their lawyers, who have called for the dismissal of their trial.