Israeli Army’s Top Legal Officer Dismissed after Leak of Sde Teiman Torture Footage
News.
By Palestine Chronicle Staff
The army’s top legal officer resigned about an hour after Katz’s announcement, saying she took “full responsibility” for the evidence leaked to the media.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Friday the dismissal of the army’s top legal officer from her position due to “the severity of the suspicions” against her regarding the leaking of a video that captured the brutal abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli guards in the notorious Sde Teiman prison.
About an hour after the announcement, however, Israeli Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned from her post and confirmed her involvement in the leak.
“I approved the leaking of evidence to the media in an attempt to confront the false propaganda against the law enforcement officials in the military,” Tomer-Yerushalmi said in her letter of resignation, cited by The Jerusalem Post.
“I take full responsibility for all of the evidence that was sent out to the media by this unit. Based on this responsibility, I have also decided to conclude my role as the MAG,” she added.
According to the Times of Israel, Tomer-Yerushalmi has been on leave since the army announced the launch of a criminal investigation into the leaking of the surveillance video last year. The video, aired by the Israeli Channel 12 news in August 2024, revealed a group of Israeli soldiers taking a Palestinian detainee to a corner of the facility where they purportedly proceeded to rape him, while trying to hide their crime with their shields. The detainee later died of his injuries.
‘Blood Libel’
Katz said in a statement earlier on X that he had “decided that Chief Military Prosecutor Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi will not return to her position.”
“I will ensure that justice is fully served against anyone who lent a hand to the blood libel against IDF (Israeli Army – PC) soldiers in the Sde Teiman affair. Given the severity of the suspicions and the sensitivity of the role overseeing law enforcement and setting legal norms across the entire IDF, there is no place to reinstate her in her position,” he added.
He said he would begin the process “as soon as possible” for the appointment of a new Chief Military Prosecutor, while an interim replacement is appointed.
‘Prior Knowledge’
Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited legal sources as saying that “there is no information indicating that Tomer-Yerushalmi herself leaked the video, but rather that her subordinates may have done so.”
The paper added that investigators are looking “into the possibility that she had prior knowledge of the leak, but at this time she is not suspected of any criminal offenses.”
Five soldiers were charged “with aggravated abuse and causing serious bodily harm to a detainee,” Haaretz noted. However, the soldiers are “currently not in custody or under any legal restrictions.”
Implications for ICJ Cases
The Jerusalem Post, meanwhile, reported that Tomer-Yerushalmi’s suspension “has major strategic implications not only for the Sde Teiman cases, but for Israel’s ability to fight international war crimes cases at the International Court of Justice and at the International Criminal Court as she is the lead legal official deciding such issues.”
The Sde Teiman detention center has been described as “a sadistic torture camp” with dozens of Palestinian detainees having “entered alive and left in body bags,” according to a reservist soldier who served at the notorious facility.
In an opinion piece published by Haaretz in July, the soldier said Sde Teiman “is not an isolated incident,” adding that it is, “distinctly, a story about policy – a policy implemented and sustained with active complicity from the Israeli media.”
Numerous reports from international, UN, and Israeli human rights organizations, including the UN Human Rights Office, Amnesty International, and B’Tselem, have documented Israel’s systematic and widespread use of torture and sexual violence against Palestinians, according to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
(PC, AJA, Israeli media)
Shit, some people are so dumb that they just don't understand Israel's need to defend itself against babies and children and pregnant women and innocent civilians who are starving and dying of malnutrition, lack of medicine, clean water, power, sanitation and even the beautiful tents that aid agencies can't get to them because of Israeli controls, - what else can Israel do but ensure opacity so that only the truth is told?
We have all seen this video. When it first came to light. We have forced ourselves to watch this horror. We did not look away. Sickened as we were. Beyond sickening.
Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi is a brave woman. And slimy Katz calls it blood libel. Of course. He talks of justice 🤮 Wtf 🤬