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Israel's former top military lawyer arrested in escalating leak scandal
Maj Gen Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who resigned last week as the Israeli military's top legal officer, was arrested late Sunday following a brief disappearance that triggered a police search along Tel Aviv's coast. Her detention marks a dramatic escalation in the political and legal fallout from a leaked video showing Israeli soldiers allegedly torturing a Palestinian detainee at a military base in 2024.
The leaked video and its aftermath
The controversy centers on footage broadcast in August 2024 by an Israeli news outlet, depicting reserve soldiers at the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel surrounding a blindfolded detainee with riot shields before allegedly subjecting him to severe abuse. According to reports, the detainee-later released to Gaza in a October 2025 prisoner exchange-suffered injuries including stab wounds to the rectum. Five reservists were charged with aggravated abuse and causing grievous bodily harm; all have pleaded not guilty.
On Sunday, four of the accused soldiers, their faces obscured by black balaclavas, appeared at a Jerusalem press conference alongside lawyers from the right-wing legal group Honenu. Adi Keidar, one of their attorneys, dismissed the trial as "a faulty, biased, and completely cooked-up legal process," reflecting broader right-wing claims that the allegations were fabricated to smear the military.
Tomer-Yerushalmi's resignation and disappearance
Gen Tomer-Yerushalmi, who oversaw the Military Advocate General's Corps, resigned on Friday after Defense Minister Israel Katz barred her from returning to duty pending an investigation into the leak. In her resignation letter, she acknowledged approving the video's release to "counter false propaganda" against the military's legal system but affirmed her duty to probe violence against detainees. Katz responded by accusing her of spreading "blood libels" against IDF troops, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Sde Teiman incident "perhaps the most severe public relations attack" on Israel since its founding.
Hours after her resignation, Israeli media reported Tomer-Yerushalmi missing, prompting a multi-hour search near Herzliya. Police later confirmed she was found "safe and in good health" but taken into custody. Overnight, authorities announced two arrests-later identified by local outlets as Tomer-Yerushalmi and former chief military prosecutor Col Matan Solomosh-on suspicion of "leaking and other serious criminal offenses."
Political divisions deepen over detainee treatment
The case has exposed stark divisions in Israeli society. Right-wing factions, including coalition lawmakers, have framed the leak as treasonous defamation of the military. In July 2024, far-right protesters-among them three Netanyahu allies-stormed the Sde Teiman base to support the accused soldiers during questioning. Conversely, left-wing critics praise Tomer-Yerushalmi's decision to release the footage, viewing it as rare accountability for alleged systemic abuse of Palestinian detainees since Hamas's October 7, 2023, attacks.
Last October, a UN inquiry accused Israel of subjecting thousands of Gazan detainees-including children-to "widespread and systematic" torture, rape, and gender-based violence, constituting war crimes. Israel rejected the findings, insisting it adheres to international legal standards and investigates all complaints.
Next steps
The arrests of Tomer-Yerushalmi and Solomosh signal a widening probe into the leak's origins, even as the trial of the five reservists proceeds. With the detainee now in Gaza and the video's authenticity undisputed, the case is poised to remain a flashpoint in Israel's polarizing debate over military conduct and transparency.
