IdfIsrael’s former top military lawyer has been arrested, as a political show deepens the leak of a video of alleged abuse of Palestinian soldiers.
Maj Yifat Tomer-Yerususmi resigned as the Israeli defense forces (IDF) military chief last week, saying he took full responsibility for the leak.
On Sunday, the story took a darker turn when he was reported missing, with police mounting an hour-long search for his beach north of Tel Aviv.
He was later found alive and well, police said, but was then taken into custody.
The road from the leaked video is getting stronger by the day.
Broadcast in August 2024 on a Footage Channel, the footage shows SDE Teiman soldiers in the southern shields beating a detainee while he was robbed with something beaten and stoned in the rectum.
The detainee was later treated for serious injuries.
FIVE reservists charged with aggravated abuse and causing grievous bodily harm to a detainee. They dismissed the allegations as yet unnamed.
On Sunday, four of the reservists wore black balaclavas to hide their faces as they appeared at a news conference outside the Supreme Court of the Supreme Court, demanding the annulment of their trial.
Adi Keidar, a lawyer from the right-wing legal aid organization Honenu, claimed his clients had been subjected to “a flawed, biased and completely botched legal process”.
Anadolu via getty imagesLast week, a criminal investigation was launched into the leaking of the video.
Gen Tomer-Yerususmi was put on leave while the inquiry took place.
On Friday, Defense Minister Katz said he would not be allowed to return to his post.
Shortly after, Gen Tomer-Yerususmi resigned.
In his resignation letter, he said he took full responsibility for any material released by the media from the unit.
“I agree to release the material to the media in an attempt to counter false propaganda against law enforcement authorities,” he said.
That is a reference to the efforts by some political figures at home in Israel to claim that the allegations of severe abuse of Detainee Detainee have been suppressed.
He added: “It is our duty to investigate whenever there is a reasonable suspicion of acts of violence against a detainee.”
After his resignation, Katz issued a scathing condemnation of his behavior.
“Anyone who spreads blood libels against IDF troops should not wear an army uniform,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed the words of the Minister of Defense on Sunday, saying that the SDE Teiman incident was the worst attack that the state of Israel has ever experienced.
Hours later, the first reports began to appear in the Israeli media that Gen Tomer-Yerususmi was missing, warning of fears that a political scandal would lead to tragedy.
A massive search effort was launched. Hours later, he was found “safe and in good health” in the coastal area of Herzliya, Israeli police said.
Overnight, a police spokesman announced that two people had been arrested on suspicion of “leaking and other serious criminal offences” as part of an investigation.
Media reported that the pair were Gen Tomer-Yerususmi and the former military chief, Col Matan Solomosh.
RabaeThe SDE Teiman incident was a lightning rod for the divide between the left and the right in Israel.
On the right, the leak of the video was criticized as a defamation of the Israeli military, all but amounting to an act of treason.
After the Israeli military police Teiman to question the 11 reservists in the incident in July 2024, at least three protesters – surrounding the Netanyahu management facility – came out of the facility to show their support.
On the left, Gen Tomer-Yerususmi’s decision to release his feet is seen as a moment when he says the responsibilities of his post.
The video is regarded by the left as concrete evidence supporting the many reports of abuse of Palestinian detainees since Hamas attacked Israel.
Last October, a report by a COMMENT on the Question accused thousands of children without work, and systematic abuse of war and sexual and psychological crimes and other sexual crimes and other sexual abuses, and systematic crimes of abuse and sexual abuses, and systematic crimes of launching and other atrocities of war and other forms of sexual violence”.
The Israeli government said it rejected accusations of widespread treatment and suffering of detainees, and insisted it was “fully committed to international standards”. It is also said to conduct a thorough investigation of each complaint.