Former Israeli Military Advocate General Arrested After Admitting She Approved Leak of Detention-Centre Video

Former IDF top lawyer detained after admitting she authorised release of security‑camera footage

Major General Yifat Tomer‑Yerushalmi, who until recently served as the Military Advocate General of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), has been arrested after acknowledging in a resignation letter that she authorised the leak of a video appearing to show Israeli soldiers assaulting a Palestinian detainee in a military detention centre.

What happened

Tomer‑Yerushalmi resigned on Friday, Oct. 31, after writing that she had approved the release of the clip to Israeli media. She said the decision was "an attempt to counter the false propaganda directed against the military law enforcement authorities" amid a campaign by far‑right figures critical of her office's investigation into alleged prisoner abuse.

"This destructive campaign reached its peak following the decision to investigate the Sde Teiman affair," Tomer‑Yerushalmi wrote, adding there were "severe allegations suggesting that we favor terrorists over our own troops."

The video and criminal case

The security‑camera footage, first circulated in August 2024 and filmed at the Sde Teiman military detention centre, has not been disputed by the IDF. It appears to show soldiers moving a blindfolded detainee behind a line of shields formed by other soldiers, apparently to obscure the cameras' view.

After the clip was released, five soldiers were arrested and charged with aggravated battery. According to court documents, the detainee was kicked, dragged, stepped on and tasered, and was later hospitalised with fractured ribs, a punctured lung and a rectal tear. The investigation into the alleged assault is ongoing.

Political fallout and protests

The arrests prompted angry demonstrations in support of the detained soldiers; protesters reportedly broke into the Sde Teiman facility, and a second location where soldiers were being questioned was also stormed. Israeli media reported that three members of the Knesset attended one demonstration.

Senior Israeli officials publicly criticised Tomer‑Yerushalmi during the inquiry. Defence Minister Israel Katz welcomed her resignation, saying, "Anyone who spreads blood libels against IDF troops is unfit to wear the army's uniform." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the affair as "perhaps the most severe propaganda attack that the State of Israel has experienced since its establishment." National Security Minister Itamar Ben‑Gvir, who oversees prisons, has said detention centres "would not be summer camps" under his watch.

Wider context

Human rights concerns about treatment in Israeli detention centres have been raised repeatedly during the Gaza war. Palestinians released from Israeli custody since a U.S.‑brokered pause in hostilities reported mistreatment, and the United Nations said in September that at least 75 Palestinians had died in Israeli detention since the conflict sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

Current status

Israeli media report Tomer‑Yerushalmi is expected to be questioned by investigators and could face charges including obstruction of justice. The Israeli national police declined to comment on the arrest, saying the investigation is ongoing. The IDF has not disputed the footage's authenticity; the legal and political ramifications of the case continue to unfold.

Contributors: CBS News reporters Michal Ben‑Gal and Ofir Rosenblum.