What to Know About the Legal Scandal in Israel Over Accusations of Abuse

Until last week, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was the Israeli military’s chief legal officer. Then she admitted that she had authorized the leak of surveillance video showing Israeli soldiers allegedly abusing a Palestinian detainee in a military prison.

On Friday, she resigned. On Monday, Israeli authorities arrested her on suspicion of misconduct and obstructing justice.

The scandal swirling around her has reignited a highly charged debate within the country over whether Israeli soldiers accused of abusing Palestinians are held accountable.

Here’s what to know about the case.

How the Case Unfolded

A group of reserve soldiers was detained in July 2024 on suspicion of raping a Palestinian man from Gaza detained at the military jail in Sde Teiman, a base in southern Israel, according to court records. The initial reports that the detainee had been raped set off a heated debate within Israel and brought an international uproar.

Some right-wing Israelis have called for soldiers to be immune from prosecution in cases involving Palestinians suspected of security offenses, and the arrest of the soldiers set off unrest in the country.

Several far-right lawmakers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line governing coalition were among those in an agitated crowd that demonstrated outside the Sde Teiman base in solidarity with the soldiers. Dozens of people then surged inside the base.

In February, five soldiers were indicted on charges of abuse and causing severe injury during the assault in July 2024, including breaking the ribs of the detainee, puncturing his left lung and tearing his rectum. The formal charges did not include sexual crimes, but said that one of the soldiers stabbed the detainee with a “sharp object,” causing a tear in his rectal wall.

According to the indictment, the soldiers had been instructed to search the detainee and led him away blindfolded with his hands and ankles cuffed.

The surveillance video was leaked shortly after the soldiers were detained. It did not show clearly what happened, as the soldiers mostly hid themselves and the detainee from the cameras.

Excerpts broadcast on television showed soldiers surrounding the detainee as he was pinned against a wall and at one point, the detainee could be seen lying on the floor.

The case played out during the war in Gaza, which brought international censure of Israel and accusations of war crimes — allegations that Israel’s leaders deny.

Many Palestinians who have been held at Sde Teiman have accused Israeli soldiers of grave abuses.

Neither the detainee nor the five suspects have been publicly identified by name. Lawyers for the accused soldiers say they deny the charges against them.

The Chief Legal Officer’s Explanation

General Tomer-Yerushalmi defended her decision to pursue the case in her resignation letter, which was published in local news media. She said she had authorized the leak of the video to protect her staff, and the case, from a delegitimization campaign by Israelis who oppose the prosecution of soldiers.

“Even in a prolonged and painful war, there is an obligation to investigate suspicions of unlawful acts. This is our legal and ethical duty,” she said in the letter. “Unfortunately,” she added, “this basic understanding — that there are actions which must never be taken even against the vilest of detainees — no longer convinces everyone.”

She wrote that investigations such as this one do not weaken or harm the military.

“On the contrary,” she wrote, “it is a source of strength.”

Israel’s military says that it remains committed to the rule of law and that what it describes as “exceptional incidents” of abuse are addressed accordingly.

Accusations of Abuse and Impunity

The episode has exposed stark divisions in the country over the question of whether Israelis can mistreat Palestinians prisoners and detainees with impunity.

The legal officer’s actions have amplified calls for the case to be dismissed.

Critics of the case say it has been further undermined because the Palestinian detainee at the center of it was sent back to Gaza last month without testifying. He was one of about 1,700 Gazan detainees exchanged for 20 Israeli hostages as part of a cease-fire deal, according to an Israeli official.

Facing harsh domestic criticism over the indictment in the abuse case, the military said that the evidence collected was extensive and included medical documentation and “authentic footage extracted from the security cameras in place.”

Still, advocates for the indicted soldiers, including some members of Mr. Netanyahu’s government, reject the very notion that Israeli soldiers should be prosecuted for any mistreatment of Palestinians in custody. Many of them point to the cruelty of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the Gaza war.

Gila Gamliel, a minister from Mr. Netanyahu’s conservative Likud Party, told Israel’s Kan public radio on Tuesday that the case, now pending before the military courts, should be thrown out and the charges against the soldiers dropped. She called the indictment a “fabrication.”

Defense lawyers for the soldiers have also called for the case to be dismissed, saying the legal process has been sullied and there is no way to hold a fair trial.

The defense minister, Israel Katz, has sided with the soldiers and accused General Tomer-Yerushalmi of having slandered them by spreading “a blood libel.”

Mr. Katz announced her replacement on Tuesday.

In his announcement, he said the priority of her successor should be to defend the soldiers who are “fighting courageously in difficult and complex conditions for the security of the state of Israel” and not to discredit them.

Next Steps

The Israeli authorities must now decide whether to charge the former chief legal officer with a crime.

It remains unclear whether the case against the soldiers will move forward or be dismissed.

Johnatan Reiss contributed reporting.