Israel arrests prosecutor after leak of torture video

Former attorney general of the Armed Forces would have assumed responsibility for releasing images to the press that would show soldiers beating a Palestinian prisoner, in a case that angered the Israeli ultra-right.

The former attorney general of the Israeli Armed Forces, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, was arrested as part of an investigation investigating the leak to the press of a video that would show Israeli soldiers carrying out torture against a Palestinian detainee, according to information released by the Times of Israel newspaper this Monday (03/11).

Tomer-Yerushalmi, who resigned from her position last Friday, is suspected of obstructing a police investigation into the leaked images. In her resignation letter, she reportedly took responsibility for the video leak, saying she wanted to “combat false propaganda directed against military law enforcement authorities.”

“The Israel Defense Forces are a moral and law-abiding Army and therefore, even during a painful and protracted war, they must investigate illegal acts,” the letter said.

The release of the images sparked violent protests by members of the Israeli ultra-right against the detention of the soldiers accused of torturing the prisoner.

Soldiers under investigation

Israeli media also reported that the former chief prosecutor of the Armed Forces was detained for questioning.

The video, recorded by a surveillance camera, allegedly shows soldiers abusing a militant from the Islamist group Hamas at the Sde Teiman military prison in southern Israel.

The alleged aggression is not explicitly visible, as the soldiers form a barrier with their shields around the detainee. According to reports, the man was later hospitalized.

Five Army reservists were charged in connection with the incident. Lawyers for the accused denied allegations that the detainee had also been sexually assaulted.

Police began an investigation to determine whether members of the military prosecutor’s office were involved in releasing the video.

Protests against prisons

In July, the opening of an investigation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to investigate suspicions of torture generated furious reactions among the Israeli far right. A crowd made up of ultranationalist activists and politicians invaded two Army bases to demand the release of nine soldiers who were initially detained by the military police in connection with the case.

In June, ultranationalists invaded an Army base to demand the release of soldiers accused of torture | Amir Cohen/Reuters

Protesters even invaded the Sde Teiman base, in the south of the country, which had been the target of allegations of abuse of prisoners by activists and NGOs.

Videos recorded several people jumping the base’s fences or forcing their way through the gates. Among the invaders, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, were two deputies and the Minister of Jewish Heritage, Amichai Eliyahu, who in November last year became internationally known for suggesting that the Gaza Strip should be the target of a nuclear attack.

The crowd was eventually dispersed by base guards.

Netanyahu condemned leaks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the release of the video, calling the episode “perhaps the most serious public relations attack Israel has suffered since its founding” and announced an independent investigation.

On Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz celebrated the prosecutor’s dismissal. “Those who defame Israel Defense Forces soldiers have no place in the Army,” he said, according to a statement from his office.

In October 2024, a UN commission found that thousands of detainees were subjected to “widespread and systematic abuse” in Israeli military camps and detention centers, which would constitute a “war crime and crime of torture against humanity”.

The Israeli government called the accusations “outrageous,” adding that it is “fully committed to international legal standards regarding the treatment of detainees.”

Originally published by DW 03/11/2025