Israeli military's top lawyer resigns over prison abuse video leak

The Israeli military's chief legal officer has resigned following the leak of a video that showed the alleged rape of a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman detention centre.

Advocate General Major-General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi said on Friday that she was stepping down because she had approved the video's leak in August 2024.

The surveillance video footage led to five Israeli reserve soldiers being charged. A criminal investigation into how the leak happened was launched by Israeli police earlier this week.

Before her resignation, Defence Minister Israel Katz had said that Tomer-Yerushalmi would not be allowed to return to her post. 

In her resignation letter, Tomer-Yerushalmi wrote: “I approved the release of material to the media in an attempt to counter false propaganda against the army's law enforcement authorities.”

She called Sde Teiman detainees - where some Hamas fighters who participated in the 7 October attack on Israel are held - “terrorists of the worst kind,” but added that this did not take away from the obligation to investigate suspected abuse.

“To my regret, this basic understanding - that there are acts to which even the most vile of detainees must not be subjected - is no longer convincing to all,” she said.