Israel's military announced on Tuesday the dismissal of its former top lawyer, months after she resigned amid a scandal involving a leaked video that appeared to show soldiers severely abusing a Palestinian detainee. The case, which sparked international outrage and protests within Israel, centered on footage taken at the high-security Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel in 2024.
Background of the Scandal
The scandal led to the resignation last year of Military Advocate General, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who acknowledged in her resignation letter that her office had leaked the abuse video to the media. The military stated that upon suspicions arising regarding the former Military Advocate General in the 'Sde Teiman' affair, Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir decided to immediately suspend her from service.
Dismissal Decision
In a statement, the military explained: "In light of the prolonged criminal proceedings, and given the severity of the alleged actions and suspicions, the Chief of the General Staff has decided to dismiss the former Military Advocate General from service without further delay." The statement added that Tomer-Yerushalmi would not be entitled to the benefits of service period completion.
Details of the Abuse
Sde Teiman has been used to hold Gazans since the start of the war in the Palestinian territory, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. In February 2025, the military announced that five reservists had been charged over the alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee in July 2024 at the detention center near the Gaza Strip. The army said the soldiers were accused of "acting against the detainee with severe violence, including stabbing the detainee’s buttocks with a sharp object, which had penetrated near the detainee’s rectum."
In March, the military dropped charges against the five soldiers, a decision hailed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
