Itai Ofir sworn in as military advocate general in period of ‘major crisis’ for unit

Itai Ofir officially assumed the role of military advocate general on Thursday after being promoted to the rank of major general, the Israel Defense Forces announced, taking over the position in a period of major turmoil for the unit.

Ofir is entering the job to replace Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi as the IDF’s top lawyer. Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned last month after admitting that she had authorized the leak of a surveillance video showing alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility.

Tomer-Yerushalmi and former IDF chief prosecutor Col. Matan Solomosh were both arrested earlier this month in connection with the incident and the subsequent investigation.

Ofir is an attorney who served as the Defense Ministry’s legal adviser from 2017 to 2024. Before that, he worked as a lawyer in the private sector in both Israel and the United States.

In the military, he served as a combat officer in the Givati Brigade and later, in the reserves, in the Negev Brigade. As such, he was promoted by five ranks, from captain to major general, upon assuming the role.

A small ceremony was held on Thursday at the military’s Tel Aviv headquarters, attended by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Defense Minister Israel Katz, other senior officers, and Ofir’s family.

Earlier this month, the IDF announced that Personnel Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa would serve as interim head of the Military Advocate General’s Corps until Ofir took office, as much of the corps’ senior command is under investigation over the leak, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the “most serious public relations attack” against Israel to date.

“This is a time in which the IDF stands before major operational challenges, but also before moral and public challenges,” Katz said at the ceremony, adding that Israel has found itself in “a deep crisis of trust, which began on October 7 and which intensified following the incident of the leaked recording from Sde Teiman.”

“Itai, I am certain that you will turn this major crisis into an opportunity and will do everything required to bring about the rehabilitation and reorganization of the Military Advocate General’s Corps,” he continued.

Zamir emphasized the need to restore public trust in the corps, saying, “We do not have the privilege of asking for the public’s trust in advance. We must rebuild it, step by step, with professionalism, with transparency to the greatest extent possible, and with consistency.”

“This is the path, this is the shared mission of us all,” he said.

In his own comments, Ofir said: “I stand here because we have only one state, the hope and prayer of all generations, which we must guard with utmost vigilance.”

He vowed to “strive with all my might to be a faithful public servant and to do what is right, just, and good.”

The Sde Teiman controversy has been unfolding for well over a year, since the initial allegations of abuse emerged in July 2024. The scandal reignited after a routine polygraph test conducted recently by the Shin Bet on a MAG officer led to a breakthrough in the case, resulting in Tomer-Yerushalmi’s resignation and admission to the leak.

Tomer-Yerushalmi is suspected of fraud and breach of trust, abuse of her office, obstruction of justice, and unlawful disclosure of material over her role in the leak.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin has since been locked in a legal battle with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara over his attempts to sideline her from the investigation, accusing her without evidence of taking part in the cover-up of the leak in the initial investigation.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.