The previously classified identity of an IDF intelligence officer, who was accused of security offenses and died while in military custody in 2021, was cleared for publication and confirmed as Capt. Tomer Eiges, 24.
The circumstances surrounding Eiges’s death are unclear, and the reason for his imprisonment is under a gag order.
Close
Tomer Eiges Credit: Omri Assenheim/X
Tomer EigesCredit: Omri Assenheim/X
In February last year, Eiges’s parents said that the opinion presented to them by then-Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi indicated that his death was caused by an unaddressed medical problem.
“A series of failures and negligent conduct by several officials, alongside inadequate medical monitoring, led to his death,” they said.
The opinion was formulated by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, senior medical officials in the IDF and outside it, as well as with the help of the evidence. The parents also said that the opinion determined that it could not be concluded that the officer took his own life, and that during his detention, he did not experience depressive symptoms.
Eiges was considered a computer science prodigy in high school, his acquaintances said. He completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science at 16. He served in a classified role in Military Intelligence for several years, was considered an outstanding officer and was highly praised.
In September 2020, Eiges was arrested after a lengthy military investigation over serious security offenses. The army had said his motives were neither ideological nor political, and that he had concealed his actions despite being aware of the potential damage they could cause to state security. He was held in the military prison while legal proceedings against him continued.
On the night of May 16, 2021, Eiges was found in serious condition at the detention facility and died shortly after in the hospital to which he was evacuated. According to a report in Israel Hayom, Eiges collapsed twice before he died.