Israel to appoint new army lawyer after Palestinian prisoner rape scandal 

The Israeli military is set to appoint a new advocate general after a scandal forced the resignation of its top lawyer, who admitted to leaking footage apparently showing soldiers raping a Palestinian detainee.

Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi stepped down on Friday after confirming her involvement in leaking surveillance video from the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp during Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.

The footage, published in August last year, purportedly showed a group of soldiers at Sde Teiman gang-raping a Palestinian detainee while forming a human barrier around him.

The leak came amid backlash from ultranationalist Israelis over a military investigation into the assault. 

Tomer-Yerushalmi said the video was released to the press to counter pressure from far-right groups attacking the military advocate general's office.

At least nine Israeli soldiers were questioned over the assault in late July, sparking widespread anger across Israel. 

Only five were indicted for "severe abuse" of the detainee, but not for rape. The trial remains ongoing.

On Sunday, the accused soldiers called for the case to be dropped.

"Cancel the trial immediately and prosecute the legal chief," said attorney Adi Kedar of the far-right legal aid organisation Honenu, according to Haaretz.

Majority of Israeli Jews believe prison rape suspects shouldn't face criminal charges

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Haaretz previously reported that the victim of the gang rape suffered a ruptured bowel, severe anal and lung injuries, broken ribs and required surgery.

The original indictment said that "for 15 minutes, the accused kicked the detainee, stomped on him, stood on his body, hit him and pushed him all over his body, including with clubs, dragged him along the ground, and used a taser gun on him, including on his head".

On Wednesday, the Israeli army launched a criminal investigation into the leak.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the leak had caused "enormous damage to Israel's public image" and called for an independent investigation.

"This is perhaps the most severe propaganda attack that the state of Israel has experienced since its establishment," Netanyahu said. 

Defence Minister Israel Katz is expected to meet army chief Eyal Zamir on Sunday to discuss the appointment of a new military advocate general, according to Israeli media.

Israeli rape of Palestinians 

Since the war on Gaza began in October 2023, Israeli prison authorities and the military have been widely accused of abusing Palestinian detainees, including through rape, starvation, torture and the denial of medical treatment.

More than 70 Palestinian detainees have died under such conditions. 

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In March, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory found evidence of the systematic use of sexual violence by Israeli officers against Palestinians since the start of the war. 

The commission said it had documented cases of rape and sexual assault of male detainees, "including the use of an electrical probe to cause burns to the anus, and the insertion of objects such as fingers, sticks, broomsticks and vegetables into the anus and rectum".

One victim told the commission that while he was "suspended from the ceiling", officers inserted a metal tool "into his penis repeatedly until it started bleeding, and he fainted".

Criminal investigations against Israeli soldiers rarely result in prosecutions in Israel.

In August, war monitor Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) reported that 88 percent of Israeli military investigations into allegations of war crimes by its soldiers since October 2023 have either been closed or produced no findings.

AOAV stated that these findings suggest Israel is seeking to create a "pattern of impunity" by failing to carry out conclusive investigations into cases involving "the most severe or public accusations of wrongdoing by their forces".