Katz: IDF chief must strip ex-military advocate general of all benefits over Sde Teiman leak scandal

Defense Minister Israel Katz says in a statement to the media that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir must strip ex-military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi of all her financial benefits.

In May, Zamir formally ousted Yerushalmi from service over her involvement in the Sde Teiman leak scandal.

At the time, the military said that Yerushalmi would still receive a military pension, but would lose eligibility for a bonus that chiefs of staff normally grant to senior officers upon completing their service.

Ynet reports this morning that the Finance Ministry’s Accountant General had frozen most of Yerushalmi’s pension, contrary to Zamir’s decision, during ongoing criminal proceedings against the former top military lawyer.

Following that report, Katz says that “every possible procedure against the ousted military advocate general must be exhausted, and certainly no decisions should now be made that would ease her situation in light of the possibility of her being convicted in the future and facing the full force of the law — by virtue of the authority vested in you and the policy I am directing as the defense minister responsible for the IDF on behalf of the government of Israel.”

“Immediate steps must be taken to strip ousted military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi of all her financial benefits,” he urges Zamir in the statement sent to reporters by his office.