CITIZENS NEWS

Israel ARRESTS former top lawyer for exposing IDF soldiers gang raping Palestinian prisoners

By isabelle // 2025-11-04

• Former Israeli military prosecutor arrested for leaking evidence of IDF war crimes.
• The leaked video shows soldiers gang-raping a Palestinian detainee with a metal baton.
• The victim suffered severe internal injuries, broken ribs, and required surgery.
• Israeli politicians have defended the accused soldiers, calling them heroes.
• The whistleblower faces criminal charges while the perpetrators remain free.

In a shocking case of punishing the messenger, Israeli authorities have arrested their own former top military prosecutor for revealing horrific war crimes committed by Israeli Defense Forces soldiers against a Palestinian detainee. Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, Israel's former military advocate general, was taken into custody Sunday after admitting she authorized the leak of video evidence showing IDF soldiers gang-raping a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention facility. The arrest exposes a justice system that is clearly more concerned about protecting its image than prosecuting brutal crimes, revealing the moral bankruptcy at the highest levels of Israeli leadership. Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned Friday amid growing scandal, acknowledging she approved the video's release to counter what she called "false propaganda" against her office from far-right figures who denied the torture occurred. Her admission came after Israeli military police had arrested IDF soldiers suspected of severely abusing the prisoner in an incident that involved stabbing him with a sharp object that tore his rectum. Rather than investigating the perpetrators of this abuse, Israeli authorities have, quite predictably, focused their wrath on the whistleblower who exposed the crime.

The crime and the cover-up

The leaked footage from August 2024 shows soldiers from an IDF unit called Force 100 brutally attacking a Palestinian detainee for approximately 15 minutes while using riot shields to conceal the assault. According to medical reports, the victim suffered a ruptured bowel, severe anal and lung injuries, and broken ribs that left him unable to walk. Dr. Yoel Donchin, an Israeli physician at the facility, confirmed the prisoner required surgery after being sodomized with a metal baton while other soldiers held up shields to block the view. Despite this graphic evidence, the political response has been to defend the perpetrators and attack those who exposed the crime. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the leak "the worst public relations attack on Israel in its history," focusing his anger on the exposure of the abuse rather than the abuse itself. This twisted priority demonstrates a leadership that values its international image over basic human decency and accountability.

Political protection for perpetrators

Far-right Israeli ministers have openly defended the accused soldiers, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling them "heroic warriors" and demanding they be treated as "heroes, not villains." National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told the military prosecutor to "take your hands off the reservists" and called suspects "our best heroes." Such statements effectively grant soldiers permission to commit atrocities under the guise of national security. The political protection extended to the perpetrators has been staggering. When soldiers were initially arrested for the rape, far-right politicians including Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu joined protests and riots outside the Sde Teiman facility and military court. A mob of far-right Israelis including senior government officials stormed military bases in attempts to free the suspects, demonstrating how deeply corruption has infected Israel's institutions. Meanwhile, the soldiers seen sexually assaulting and abusing Palestinian detainees remain free while the whistleblower faces criminal charges. The insanity of directing anger at exposing the crime rather than at those who committed it reveals a moral inversion that should alarm the international community. Tomer-Yerushalmi's arrest followed a mysterious disappearance on Sunday that raised concerns for her safety. After an extensive search, she was found on a beach north of Tel Aviv and immediately taken into custody. She now faces charges of fraud and breach of trust, abuse of office, obstruction of justice, and disclosure of information as a public servant. Her treatment sends a clear message to potential whistleblowers: expose war crimes and face destruction.

Systemic abuse at Sde Teiman

The Sde Teiman facility has become synonymous with torture and abuse. Palestinians held there 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 2023, with many bodies showing signs of torture, execution, and mutilation when returned to Gaza. Israeli physicians who served at Sde Teiman have described widespread severe injuries caused by 24-hour shackling of hands and feet that sometimes required amputations. Former detainees have recounted rape and sexual assault by male and female soldiers, electrocution, maulings by dogs, denial of food and water, sleep deprivation, and other torture methods that violate international law and basic human dignity. The arrest of Tomer-Yerushalmi represents the ultimate corruption of justice: punishing those who expose crimes while protecting the criminals. When a nation's leadership becomes more outraged by transparency than by torture, it has lost its moral compass. The international community must recognize that Israel's justice system has been weaponized to protect war criminals rather than prosecute them, creating an environment where atrocities can continue unchecked. Sources for this article include: News.Antiwar.com CommonDreams.org CNN.com AlJazeera.com

national security Israel evil genocide rape whistleblower big government assault abuse chaos humanitarian WWIII IDF