Israeli military lawyer arrested for leaking video of Palestinian prisoner rape

BarcelonaThe battle against the independence of the judiciary, waged for years by Benjamin Netanyahu's government, has claimed another victim. General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the Israeli army's lawyer, was arrested on Monday. Her arrest comes after fears for her life arose when she disappeared on Sunday, two days after the government forced her to resign. Tomer-Yerushalmi, who had been critical of military operations in Gaza, is accused of disseminating a video showing soldiers raping a Palestinian prisoner in a detention center.

The video was released in August 2024. And it showed a group of Israeli soldiers dragging a Palestinian prisoner against a wall, surrounding him with riot shields, and taking turns raping him with an iron bar. "For fifteen minutes, the accused kicked the detainee, stepped on him, climbed on top of him, punched and shoved him all over his body, also with batons, dragged him along the ground, and applied electric shocks with a Taser gun, including to his head," according to medical information obtained by the Israeli newspaper. HaaretzThe victim suffered a ruptured intestine, severe anal and lung injuries, and fractured ribs. Of the nine soldiers investigated, five were released, the other four have been charged with "severe abuse" but not rape, and the trial continues, with constant accusations from Netanyahu's far-right allies, who consider the perpetrators of the assault national heroes.

But Defense Minister Israel Katz has not ordered an investigation into these torture cases, nor into many others. denounced by Palestinian prisoners and Israeli prison staff at the Sde Teiman detention center—where those detained in Gaza are held—and at other centers. In fact, 135 of the bodies of Palestinians handed over by Israel, bearing clear signs of torture, in exchange for Israeli hostages killed in Gaza, came from Sde Teiman. Instead of investigating this, the ministry focused on finding out who was responsible for the leak. The Finance Minister, the far-right Bezalel Smotrich, has not accused the military lawyer of "making anti-Semitic slanders."

A far-right crusade

The lawyer admitted on Friday to secretly authorizing the leak of security camera footage from the center that recorded the assault to the press, something Katz deemed "intolerable." The leak occurred to counter the strong reaction from the far right in Israel, which is part of Netanyahu's government, and which had even instigated an attack on the center by a violent mob protesting the arrest of soldiers accused of participating in the rape. Thanks to the security camera footage, five of them were prosecuted in February 2025 for physical violence and intentional assault, and arrested last Wednesday.

In her resignation letter to the Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, the lawyer admitted on Friday to authorizing the leak of the footage to the press "to refute the false propaganda against the military justice system." She assumed full responsibility, defended her "duty to investigate any reasonable suspicion of acts of violence against detainees," and lamented that this principle "no longer convinces everyone." Katz, for her part, justified her departure by citing "defamation" that would make her "unworthy to wear the uniform."

Missing for hours on a beach

On Sunday night, Tomer-Yerushalmi was found alive after being reported missing since the morning. After hours of searching on Hof HaTzuk beach in Herzliya, her car was found with a note inside. Police sources indicate she had gone to the beach early that morning. Prominent figures on the right have continued their campaign of incitement against the lawyer following the incident. Journalist Yinon Magal said that "the lynching may continue," while a member of parliament from Likud, Netanyahu's party, said that the military lawyer's "suicide attempt" was "an attempt to control the narrative and erase her shameful actions." From the opposition, progressive leader Yair Golan has accused Netanyahu of "reactivating his poison machine" and linked him to the thirtieth anniversary of the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the architect of the Oslo Accords, at the hands of a settler, stating that "political violence remains active."

History of criticism of the government

Elected in September 2021, Tomer-Yerushalmi had been critical of the government. During Israel's genocidal offensive on Gaza, she had warned soldiers against their "inappropriate conduct": looting, public humiliation of Palestinian detainees, and "excessive" use of force, which in many cases they themselves displayed on social media. The military lawyer had warned that some of these cases could lead to criminal prosecutions. In June, the ultraconservative Channel 14—aligned with the government—accused her of opposing the bombing of a building in Gaza and held her responsible for the deaths of four soldiers. Last August, she opposed the invasion of Gaza City that Netanyahu ordered against the advice of his own generals. According to the investigation that led to Tomer-Yerushalmi's arrest, a dozen officers in her cabinet allegedly discussed the video's distribution in a WhatsApp group. The Defense Minister and the Chief of Staff have already announced that she will be replaced by a substitute "willing to defend Israeli soldiers."