JERUSALEM — Not long ago, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was the top legal authority within the Israeli armed forces. Currently, she is behind bars and at the center of a scandal that is causing a stir throughout the country, following a chain of unexpected events that included her abrupt resignation, a brief period during which she was missing, and a frantic search that ultimately found her on a beach in Tel Aviv.
This striking narrative unfolded last week when Tomer-Yerushalmi made an unexpected admission, revealing that she had permitted the release of a surveillance video related to a politically sensitive inquiry regarding serious claims of abuse against a Palestinian person at a notorious Israeli military installation. The footage depicts part of an event where Israeli soldiers are accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian captive.
By making the tape public last year, Tomer-Yerushalmi aimed to underscore the severity of the allegations that her department was examining. Nevertheless, this decision ignited considerable backlash from figures within Israel’s right-wing politics. After her resignation under escalating pressure last week, she continued to encounter personal attacks from her critics.
She left behind an obscure message for her family and abandoned her vehicle close to a beach. This raised fears that she might have harmed herself and prompted an extensive search mission that involved military drones. She was found safe on the beach on Sunday night, which led to even more harsh criticism aimed at her. “We can carry on with the lynch,” tweeted right-wing TV host Yinon Magal, who is linked to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with a winking-face emoji.
After it was discovered that one of Tomer-Yerushalmi’s phones was missing, right-wing politicians and commentators suggested that she had staged a suicide attempt to eliminate potential evidence.
This extraordinary situation demonstrates that two years of severe conflict have done little to heal a country that was already extremely divided before the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Furthermore, it positions Tomer-Yerushalmi as the latest in a long line of senior security officials who have resigned or been dismissed from their roles, with most replaced by individuals considered loyal to Netanyahu and his right-wing government.
The outrage over the leaked material distracts from the significant abuse that lies at the heart of the case.
During a judicial hearing on Monday, the judge revealed that the detention of Tomer-Yerushalmi would be extended until Wednesday due to accusations of fraud, breach of trust, and obstructing justice. While investigations into her actions are ongoing, she is presently held in a women’s jail in central Israel.
Reports from Israeli news outlets suggested that former chief military prosecutor Col. Matan Solomesh has also been taken into custody in relation to the leak case. The office of the prime minister has refused to comment on Solomesh’s arrest.
The public outcry surrounding the leaked video highlights the significant divisions within Israel, and, at least for now, it maintains both media and public focus on the leak itself rather than on any allegations of misconduct.
The incident occurred on July 5, 2024, at the Sde Teiman military base, as stated in the official accusations against the soldiers involved. The Associated Press has examined claims of inhumane treatment and abuse at Sde Teiman that took place prior to the events captured in the surveillance video. The footage, displayed by Israeli media outlets, shows soldiers bringing a detainee into an area shielded by barriers, seemingly to hide their actions. The accusations claim that the soldiers physically assaulted the Palestinian detainee and committed acts of sodomy with a knife, leading to multiple injuries.
A medical expert familiar with the case, who requested to remain anonymous for safety reasons, reported that the detainee arrived at a civilian hospital in critical condition, with blunt force trauma to the chest and abdomen, in addition to fractured ribs. He stated that the detainee underwent surgery to mend a perforated rectum and was sent back to Sde Teiman shortly thereafter. The medical expert remarked that this was the most severe case of maltreatment he had witnessed at Sde Teiman.
When military police came to Sde Teiman in July to detain the soldiers suspected of the maltreatment, they encountered protesters who opposed the arrests. Following this, several hostile demonstrators rushed the detention facility.
In her resignation letter, Tomer-Yerushalmi expressed that she had disclosed evidence of the abuse to confront perceptions that the military was unfairly prosecuting its own members. She claimed that this view endangered the military’s law enforcement, referencing a break-in incident. She stated that the military was obligated to initiate an investigation any time there are reasonable grounds to suspect violence against a detainee. “Unfortunately, this essential principle — that certain actions should never occur, even towards the most contemptible of detainees — is no longer unanimously upheld,” she articulated. The Palestinian detainee featured in the alleged abuse video was sent back to Gaza last month as part of an agreement involving live hostages and Palestinian prisoners, according to documents obtained from the military prosecutor’s office by the AP. The case is still pending resolution in military court.
Yohanan Plesner, who leads the Israel Democracy Institute situated in Jerusalem, expressed that three separate legal issues need to be explored regarding the investigation into what transpired at Sde Teiman.
The first issue involves allegations of abusive treatment of Palestinian detainees by Israeli soldiers during their detention. The second concern deals with whether certain Israeli civilians, including some members of parliament, tried to impede the inquiry by forcefully accessing the military site where the soldiers under investigation were held. The third aspect looks into claims that Tomer-Yerushalmi supposedly committed various illegal activities, such as fraud, to obstruct the investigation regarding how the surveillance videos were released to the media.
Plesner pointed out that the intense rhetoric observed in recent days mirrors the atmosphere in Israel before the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza on October 7. The public sentiment regarding Netanyahu’s attempts at judicial reform was distinctly polarized during that period.
Plesner remarked that the Israeli public’s concern about Tomer-Yerushalmi’s safety for a brief period on Sunday night should serve as a “stop sign” for those commentators who ridiculed her personally. “It was truly sorrowful to observe how internal discussions can result in such potentially tragic consequences on an individual level,” Plesner noted.
He emphasized the importance of Tomer-Yerushalmi’s presence in the courtroom coinciding with the Israeli government’s official observance of the 30th anniversary of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination.
Many view this murder as a particularly dismal moment for Israel concerning social divisions and provocations within the society, leading to fears that the shocking events that occurred over the weekend could herald a return to a period marked by similar internal strife in Israel.
“It was rather upsetting to witness how our internal dialogue can result in such potentially tragic outcomes on a personal scale,” Plesner commented. “There is a way to discuss our disagreements within the context of a democratic society.”
