The top lawyer for the Israeli military has resigned after claiming responsibility for the leak of a video allegedly showing soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee last year.
Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the military advocate general, has been on leave since police opened a criminal investigation earlier this week into how Surveillance video from the Sde-Teyman pre-trial detention center has leaked online.
Five reserve soldiers have been charged in connection with the incident.
Before his resignation, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that General Tomer-Yerushalmi would not be allowed to return to his post.
Warning: This story contains descriptions of alleged sexual assault.
In her resignation letter, General Tomer-Yerushalmi said she takes full responsibility for any material the unit publishes in the media.
“I approved the release of the material to the media in an attempt to counter false propaganda directed against military law enforcement agencies,” she said.
This is a reference to attempts by some on the political right in Israel to claim that videos and reports of mistreatment of detainees were fabricated.
General Tomer-Yerushalmi continued: “It is our responsibility to investigate whenever there is reasonable suspicion of acts of violence against a detainee.”
After her resignation was accepted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff, Katz issued a statement welcoming the decision.
“Anyone who spreads blood libels against IDF soldiers is not worthy of wearing an army uniform,” he said.
The leaked video was shown on Israel's Channel 12 news in August 2024.
The footage shows soldiers in Sde Teiman taking a detainee aside, then surrounding him with shields to block visibility while he is stabbed in the rectum with a sharp object. The detainee received medical treatment for serious injuries.
After Israeli military police went to Sde Teiman to question 11 reservists about the incident, far-right protesters stormed the facility to show their support.
Five reservists were subsequently charged with aggravated cruelty and causing grievous bodily harm to a detainee. They denied the charges.
The video was hailed as concrete evidence confirming numerous reports of mistreatment of Palestinian detainees following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
However, right-wing politicians in Israel condemned the leaked video as an attempt to defame the Israeli army.
Last year, a UN commission of inquiry report alleged that thousands of children and adults detained from the Gaza Strip “were subjected to widespread and systematic violence, physical and psychological abuse, and sexual and gender-based violence, amounting to a war crime and the crime against humanity of torture, as well as the war crime of rape and other forms of sexual violence.”
The Israeli government said it rejected allegations of widespread mistreatment and torture of detainees and insisted it was “fully committed to international legal standards.” He also said he conducted a thorough investigation into each complaint.
