Israel’s top military lawyer resigns after Sde Teiman footage release

Israel’s top military lawyer, Major General Yifat Tomer‑Yerushalmi, resigned on Friday after acknowledging she authorized the release of surveillance footage from the Sde Teiman detention facility that showed Israeli soldiers assaulting a Palestinian detainee, officials said. The footage, filmed in early July 2024 and first publicized in August 2024, prompted a criminal investigation into the leak and criminal charges against five reserve soldiers.

Tomer‑Yerushalmi said in her resignation letter that she approved the release to counter what she described as false propaganda directed at the military’s law enforcement authorities. "I approved the release of material to the media in an attempt to counter false propaganda against the army's law enforcement authorities," she wrote, while also stressing that suspected abuses must be investigated. She added that even detainees who have committed grave offenses remain entitled to lawful treatment, and that this obligation is essential to the armed forces' credibility.

The surveillance clip depicts soldiers taking a detainee lying face down aside, surrounding him behind riot shields, and assaulting him. The man was later hospitalized...