Military prosecutor in Sde Teiman affair reportedly suspended

The military prosecutor in the Sde Teiman detention facility abuse case has reportedly been suspended over suspicions that he transferred surveillance camera footage to the Military Advocate General’s Office, which was then leaked to the media.

Army Radio reports that the prosecutor, a lieutenant colonel, has been placed on forced leave until further notice. The IDF has not officially commented on the report.

The report says the prosecutor was questioned under caution by the police over suspicions that he was involved in the leaking of the surveillance video, which purported to show soldiers severely abusing a Palestinian detainee last year.

As the prosecutor in the case, he had access to all the investigation materials, and he is suspected of providing them to officers in the MAG’s office for the leak to Channel 12 news in August 2024. Army Radio says police have evidence showing that former military advocate general Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi instructed her staff to ask the prosecutor for materials to then pass on to the media.

However, it remains unclear if the prosecutor knew that the material he handed over to the MAG’s office was intended to be leaked to the media, Army Radio says.

Another officer has replaced the prosecutor.

Yesterday, lawyers for the defendants in the abuse case were updated by the MAG’s office that the Palestinian security detainee at the center of the affair was released back to Gaza on October 13 in the framework of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. A document from the offices that the defense attorneys received was signed “on behalf of the operational affairs prosecutor.”