Right-wing politicians seize on Sde Teiman scandal to renew attacks on judicial system, AG

Following revelations that the IDF’s military advocate general had authorized the leak of the Sde Teiman detainee abuse video, ministers and right-wing lawmakers on Friday said the affair exposed deep flaws in Israel’s judicial system. They seized on the scandal to attack Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and argued it underscored the urgent need for sweeping reform.

Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi has resigned after admitting her part in the affair. She is expected to be questioned under caution in the coming days.

She announced on Friday that she would quit her position, writing in her resignation letter that she greenlit the video’s leak to “counter the false propaganda directed against the military law enforcement authorities” — referring to the outrage sparked on the right when the IDF launched an investigation in mid-2024 into the alleged abuse of a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention facility.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed the leak was just “the tip of the iceberg” of what he dubbed the “corruption” of the justice system, vowing to fix the supposed issue.

In a post on X, Smotrich demanded an “independent and impartial investigation” into the matter, suggesting it was “not the only lie and cover-up.” He also demanded immunity for the officer who “revealed the truth” and called for a new advocate general to be appointed from “outside the system.”

Justice Minister Yariv Levin claimed that the resignation of Tomer-Yerushalmi over the affair was the “direct result” of his effort to overhaul the judiciary.

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

Education Minister Yoav Kisch accused Tomer-Yerushalmi of blood libel, posting that “the horrific blood libel against IDF soldiers… was created by the Military Advocate General, who decided that she is the law.”

He added that she was reminiscent of other officials “who think they are the law and have completely lost their way.”

Though multiple politicians have claimed the leak constituted a blood libel against soldiers, the veracity of the video itself and their actions depicted therein has not so far been questioned. Soldiers in the video have been indicted for brutally assaulting a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention facility, leaving him with significant injuries, including broken ribs and an internal tear in his rectum.

חשיפה של כתב המשפט של חדשות 12, גיא פלג, הערב ב"מהדורה המרכזית": כך תועדו החשודים בפרשת שדה תימן | במצ"ח ממשיכים לחקור את החיילים שנעצרו בחשד להתעללות במחבל חמאס, והערב פורסם התיעוד שעומד במרכז החקירה • כפי שניתן לראות בתיעוד ממצלמות האבטחה במקום, המחבל נלקח הצידה בידי לוחמי כוח… pic.twitter.com/iwgSnq8VHm

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In his statement celebrating her removal, Levin wrote, “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 added. “I will stand up to them this time too, with great force. I will not allow anyone to contaminate the investigation process. Anyone who is tainted with a conflict of interest will not be part of the investigation.”

Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman summoned Baharav-Miara and other law enforcement officials for an urgent discussion at his Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Sunday morning “to understand how the law enforcement system intends to deal with the conflict of interest inherent in the investigation into the distribution and leak of the Sde Teiman video and the false affidavits submitted to the High Court of Justice on the subject,” Rothman said in a post on X.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for the dismissal of Baharav-Miara, tweeting: “Next up, the criminal attorney general.”

Likud MK Moshe Saada said in a statement that he had appealed to Levin “to strip Baharav-Miara of the authority to oversee the investigation and to appoint a special prosecutor to accompany the investigation, handle the filing of indictments and manage the case against those involved.”

He argued: “In light of the military advocate general’s admission and the reasonable suspicion that Baharav-Miara was aware of her actions and cooperated in the attempted cover-up, the matter takes on added urgency, and there is a legal necessity to remove her authority over the investigation.”

Baharav-Miara previously defended Tomer-Yerushalmi’s handling of the case, leading to fresh scrutiny of her conduct.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said there was “no dispute” that Tomer-Yerushalmi had to quit. “She committed acts that harm the IDF and the public’s trust in it. No one is above the law. And that binds everyone,” Lapid wrote on X.

Lapid added that an investigation must not only probe the leaking of the footage, but also the circumstances of a break-in to the Sde Teiman base by a far-right mob, in protest of the arrests of soldiers implicated in the abuse.

Most prominent opposition figures concurred with Lapid, expressing support for Tomer-Yerushalmi’s resignation and a probe into the leaking of the video. The only exception was The Democrats chairman Yair Golan, who turned the focus onto Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies.

“She [Tomer-Yerushalmi] and her spokesperson may have done something improper, but it is not more serious than what Netanyahu’s spokesmen Urich and Feldstein did,” he said, referring to the ongoing Qatargate scandal, in which the two men are suspected of doing paid PR work for Doha while working for the premier.

“It certainly doesn’t come close to the actions for which Netanyahu himself is standing trial,” he went on.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett called the leak a “very grave incident that subverts Israel’s public trust in senior commanders of the IDF.”

“We must get to the bottom of the chain of events from beginning to end, and bring all those involved to justice,” he wrote.

Former IDF chief of staff and former MK Gadi Eisenkot condemned Tomer-Yerushalmi’s actions as “very grave” and similarly demanded that all those involved in the leak be held accountable.

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman commended the officer’s resignation, but said it should have happened much sooner. “If a person knows they have failed, they should resign at the right time and not cling to their position until it [resignation] is forced upon them,” he said.

Former defense minister Yoav Gallant said Tomer-Yerushalmi lied to him after he instructed an investigation to be opened to find the source of the leak.

“I summoned the military advocate general to my office to understand why the investigation was stalling. I asked her why the leaker had not been identified,” he said. “In her response, as is now clear to everyone, the military advocate general deliberately lied and said that ‘the investigation is lengthy because dozens of people were exposed to the video.’”

Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Friday they were working together to appoint a new person to the role.

The pair agreed that Zamir will put together a list of candidates for the role and Katz will later approve one. “The defense minister and the chief of staff are working to create immediate stability in the Military Advocate General’s Office,” they said.