On Monday, Israeli police arrested the Israeli military’s former top prosecutor for leaking a video that showed Israeli soldiers raping a Palestinian prisoner at the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility in southern Israel last year.
Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned on Friday after admitting to approving the leak, something she said she did in response to the backlash over Israeli military police arresting IDF soldiers who were suspected of severely abusing the prisoner, which involved stabbing him with a sharp object that tore his rectum.
Tomer-Yerushalmi went missing on Sunday for several hours, raising concerns that her life was at risk, but she was later found unharmed. The former military prosecutor has come under a torrent of criticism for her role in leaking the video, including from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the leak the worst public relations attack on Israel in the country’s history.
Israeli government officials have been strongly critical of the act of leaking the video, but of the horrific abuse inflicted on the Palestinian prisoner. According to Israeli media reports at the time, the prisoner was admitted to the hospital with an injury to his anus so severe that he couldn’t walk and also had severe lung injuries and broken ribs.
An analysis from Haaretz was critical of the fact that the conversation has become about Tomer-Yerushalmi rather than the treatment of prisoners at Sde Teiman and other Israeli prisons, which have been widely documented.
Palestinians held at Sde Teiman detention camp and Israeli whistleblowers who worked there have reported rampant abuse, including beatings, prolonged blindfolding, medical neglect, and sexual assault. At least 75 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention since October 7, 2023.
