LONDON: Outrage over the alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli soldiers has shifted focus from those involved in the assault to the Israel Defense Forces’ top legal official, who authorized the release of the footage.
The video, recorded by surveillance cameras in July 2024 at the Sde Teiman military base in Israel’s Negev desert, was released to local media a month later by Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the IDF’s military advocate-general.
Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned on October 31, explaining that she had approved the video’s release to counter what she described as false propaganda against the army’s legal institutions following claims from right-wing groups that the abuse allegations were fabricated. “It is our duty to investigate whenever there is reasonable suspicion of violence against a detainee,” she said in her resignation statement.
She also revealed that military prosecutors working on the case had faced personal attacks, severe insults, and threats for pursuing charges against the soldiers accused of misconduct. Reflecting the government’s view, Defense Minister Israel Katz welcomed her resignation, stating: “Anyone who spreads blood libels against IDF troops is unfit to wear the army’s uniform.
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