The former chief military prosecutor of Israel was arrested after admitting to leaking a video showing soldiers abusing a Palestinian detainee at a detention center in the south of the country, officials reported today.
General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned on Friday, taking responsibility for the leak. The arrest came after an intensive search along the coast of Tel Aviv on Sunday night, which began after Tomer-Yerushalmi's family expressed concern for her safety and police found her abandoned car near the beach.
Police reported she was found shortly after “safe and sound.” On Monday, the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court ordered her pre-trial detention at least until Wednesday.
Police accused her of fraud, breach of trust, abuse of power, and obstruction of justice, while former military prosecutor Matan Solomesh was also arrested and remanded in custody until Wednesday.
The state-run Kan TV reported that several military prosecutors were interrogated by police, according to a Xinhua news agency report.
Tomer-Yerushalmi's mobile phone was located, and investigators are examining whether she may have thrown it into the sea to destroy evidence.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated that she is under reinforced surveillance.
The leaked video, aired by Channel 12, showed the abuse of a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention center in August 2024.
At the time, the army was investigating the incident and had detained several soldiers suspected of involvement, which provoked outrage from far-right activists who stormed the center in protest.
Five soldiers were subsequently formally charged. According to the indictment, a copy of which was seen by Xinhua, the five beat, kicked, and assaulted a Palestinian detainee from Gaza with an electric pistol, and sodomized him while he was blindfolded and handcuffed, causing him serious injuries.
In her resignation letter, Tomer-Yerushalmi stated that she leaked the video to counter the wave of public indignation in Israel directed at the military prosecutor's office following the detention of the suspected soldiers.
“Armed forces have the duty to investigate whenever there are reasonable suspicions of violence against a detainee,” she wrote.
