Katz praises move, calls for 'many years' of imprisonment

IDF chief formally dismisses ex-military advocate general over Sde Teiman scandal

Army cites ‘severity of the alleged acts’ as reason for ouster; Tomer-Yerushalmi has admitted to leaking video of purported abuse of a Gazan detainee, is under police investigation

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has decided to officially dismiss ex-military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi from service over her involvement in the Sde Teiman leak scandal, the military announced Tuesday.

According to the IDF, Zamir suspended Tomer-Yerushalmi immediately after the allegations surfaced in November. Zamir decided to move forward with her formal dismissal due to the “severity of the alleged acts and suspicions,” amid ongoing criminal proceedings, it added.

The IDF said that her dismissal also means that Tomer-Yerushalmi will lose eligibility for financial benefits normally granted to senior officers upon completing their military service.

Zamir believes a possible demotion in rank should be considered once “the facts in the criminal proceedings become clearer and the process is completed,” the army said.

The Sde Teiman affair centered on the leak of surveillance footage allegedly showing the abuse of a Palestinian detainee by IDF soldiers at the Sde Teiman detention facility. The footage was leaked to Channel 12 in late 2024, causing further outrage both from those horrified by the apparent abuse and from others protesting the leak itself, claiming it created a false impression.

After several suspects were arrested by military police, hundreds of right-wing rioters, including several coalition MKs and even a cabinet minister, broke into the Sde Teiman base in an apparent effort to halt the arrests, and right-wing activists then broke into a second military base where the suspects were held in detention and tussled with IDF soldiers there. No indictments were brought against any of those who broke into those bases.

The arrests came in the wake of numerous media reports, based on testimony from Israeli officials and Palestinian detainees, of severe cases of abuse and even torture at Sde Teiman. A January report by Israel’s Public Defender’s Office corroborated these allegations.

The scandal escalated in late October 2025, when Tomer-Yerushalmi became the prime suspect in the leak she was herself ostensibly investigating. She later resigned from her post and admitted to leaking the footage.

Tomer-Yerushalmi was also suspected of having staged a suicide attempt to dispose of her phone in the sea to cover up digital evidence related to the leaking and subsequent cover-up.  She was later hospitalized for nearly a month after medics were called to her home to find that she had overdosed on sleeping pills, in what was later confirmed to have been a suicide attempt.

Charges against the five reservists accused of abusing the Palestinian prisoner were eventually dropped.

Defense Minister Israel Katz has been updated on Zamir’s decision, the IDF said.

Reacting to the news, Katz praised Zamir for dismissing Tomer-Yerushalmi and touted his own role in her ouster, saying the former top military lawyer committed “grave acts” which caused “severe damage.”

Katz added that he has requested that the Attorney General’s Office expedite criminal proceedings against Tomer-Yerushalmi, “in order to bring about the stripping of her ranks and her imprisonment for many years due to the grave acts she committed.”

Tomer-Yerushalmi is currently under house arrest amid the ongoing police investigation into the affair.

Several other top officials in the MAG Corps have also been suspended amid the investigation.