Celebrating top IDF lawyer’s resignation, justice minister says it’s part of his judicial overhaul

Justice Minister Yariv Levin claims that the resignation of the IDF’s top lawyer over her involvement in the leaking of footage showing the severe abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli prison guards is the “direct result” of his effort to overhaul the judiciary.

“The systems of lies that have been built here for years, trampling on the rights of entire communities and severely harming the security of the state and IDF soldiers, are crumbling,” Levin writes in a Facebook post.

The soldiers in the video have been indicted for brutally assaulting the prisoner, leaving him with significant injuries, including broken ribs and an internal tear in his rectum.

In her resignation letter, Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi wrote: “I approved the release of material to the media in an attempt to counter the false propaganda directed against the military law enforcement authorities.”

In his statement celebrating her removal, Levin writes, “The head of the Shin Bet, the state ombudsman for judges, and now the military advocate general are being replaced by worthy, professional and decent people.”

“In the coming days, we will see the heads of the legal system closing ranks in a desperate effort to prevent the whole truth from being revealed and to delay the process of change,” Levin writes in a scathing statement.