TEL AVIV — The Israeli authorities arrested former military prosecutor general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi on Monday on suspicion of leaking classified information, according to Hebrew media reports.
Israeli police also detained former chief military prosecutor Colonel (Res.) Matan Solomesh, allegedly for having prior knowledge of the leak of a video showing Israeli soldiers assaulting and raping a Palestinian detainee.
The footage, reportedly recorded by a surveillance camera at the “Sde Teiman” detention base in July 2024, depicts Israeli soldiers violently attacking and sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner.
In her resignation letter last Friday, Tomer-Yerushalmi admitted to forwarding the video, saying she wanted to “counter false propaganda directed against the military law enforcement authorities.”
Hebrew media reported that she was taken in for questioning over similar suspicions, as police opened a full investigation to determine whether other members of the military prosecutor’s office were involved in disseminating the footage.
Five Israeli army reservists have already been charged in connection with the incident, though their defense lawyers denied the allegations of sexual assault.
Tomer-Yerushalmi has faced intense backlash from current and former Israeli officials who accused her of “damaging Israel’s reputation and that of its soldiers” by leaking the footage rather than focusing on the crime itself.
Critics noted that Israeli officials and mainstream media have centered their outrage on the leak rather than the brutality committed against the Palestinian captive.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the publication of the video, calling it “perhaps the most serious public relations attack Israel has faced since its founding,” and announced an independent inquiry into the leak.
On Sunday evening, Israeli police confirmed that the recently resigned prosecutor had been found “safe and sound” after several hours of searching, following media reports that she had left behind a suicide note. — PIC
