The Battle Against Their Own: The Arrest of Israel’s Whistleblower Advocate-General

Francesca Maria de Grazia, BSc Politics and Philosophy

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF)’s legal branch has faced numerous defeats over the past two years; investigations into “hundreds” of allegations ① against the Israeli milirary during the Gaza war have yielded scant criminal charges. Yet the greatest blow to the system’s credibility came from within.  On October 31st, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, IDF’s top lawyer and military advocate general, “quietly” resigned. Two days later, she was arrested.

Although her detention was initially perceived as retaliation for investigating into IDF misconduct, a sign of growing hostility toward internal accountability, it later emerged that the case centered on a leaked video ② showing severe abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli soldiers. What are the implications of a system that turns against its own alleged watchdogs? More importantly, could this episode set a precedent for dissent within Israel’s governing structures, dissent not from protesters or opposition parties, but from officials embedded deep inside the military and legal hierarchy?

This article explores how Tomer-Yerushalmi’s downfall reveals the erosion of accountability and the politicization of justice in Israel’s war context. If even the country’s highest legal guardian cannot question the army without reprisal, what hope remains for the rule of the law?

The Making of a Scandal

In July 2024, IDF legal authorities opened an investigation into five Israeli soldiers accused of beating and sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee ① at the Sde Teiman military base. When a leaked video confirming the abuse surfaced in August, the five guards were arrested. Outrage followed within the public and governmental arena, not aimed at the abuse itself, but at the leak. After an initial investigation found no one to blame, a recent routine polygraph test raised suspicion about Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi. She soon resigned, admitting to approving “the release of material to the media in an attempt to counter false propaganda against the army’s law enforcement authorities” ①.

From that moment, events spiralled. On November 2nd, two days after her resignation, Tomer-Yerushalmi went missing, initally thought as an attempted suicide or flee, before being found and taken into custody. One further twist was this Sunday, when she was hospitalised following an alleged suicide attempt. She now faces several charges, including fraud and breach of trust, abuse of office, obstruction of justice, and unlawful disclosure of classified material.

The public narrative quickly shifted from abuse accountability to the vilification of the whistleblower and journalists; Prime Minister Netanyahu himself labeled the affair as “the most severe PR arrack since 1948” ③. The irony is striking: the very offences brought against Tomer-Yerushalmi are the same she sought to expose within the military, namely abuse of office and obstruction of justice. The official narrative, it seems, has turned on itself, distorting the very principles it claims to defend.

The Politics of Obedience: IDF’s Accountability Approach

The tension between the IDF’s legal and political spheres has never been more apparent. The Military Advocate General’s office is formally tasked with upholding humanitarian law and internal justice, seen most visibly through its investigations into alleged war crimes in Gaza. Yet over time, governmental power and political narratives have trumped its mission. From the systematic diminishment of military indictments to the arrest of its own legal chief, Israel’s mechanisms of accountability reveal deep structural impunity and a steady erosion of internal checks on state violence.

The legal office has long operated under political siege; right-wing politicians have accused it of “harmstringing soldiers” ④, while Prime Minister Netanyahu’s campaign to curb judicial dependence has weakened its authority. The arrest of Major General Tomer-Yerushalmi marks a turning point: not merely a personal downfall, but a broader and more serious crackdown on dissent within institutions. This is not unique to Israel; similar erosions of legal independence have unfolded across the region, from Turkey’s politicised purges of its judiciary to Egypt’s subordination of courts to executive power. In all cases, the suppression of internal oversight signals a deeper democratic decay, where obedience replaces accountability as the cornerstone of legitimacy.

Public Perception and Media Framing

The media response to the scandal must be examined to fully understand its wider social and political implications. Since the story’s unfolding, Israeli mainstream media, Channel 11, has humanised the accused soldiers while marginalising the Palestinian victim and scapegoating the Director General. Coverage framed the guards as victims of circumstance rather than perpetrators of abuse, reframing a case of violence into one of institutional betrayal.

Journalists who challenged this narrative have also faced backlash. Channel 12’s legal analyst Guy Peleg, who reported on the leaked footage, received threats and was publicly targeted by senior officials. Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu even wrote on social media that Peleg would be “safe in prison” ①.

This reaction reflects a deeper underlying issue of ingrained military culture in which soldiers are regarded as national symbols of sacrifice and moral purity beyond moral reproach. This near-sacralisation of the Israeli Defence Forces’ military forms a powerful social norm discouraging scrutiny, creating a “don’t ask don’t tell” environment around military misconduct. The result is a sort of moral inversion whereby revealing abuse is treated as betrayal, while concealing it becomes an act of patriotism. The state, in this narrative, must always be protected, even at the expense of truth and justice.

Broader Implications of Tomer-Yerushalmi’s Arrest

This scandal represents far more than the downfall of an individual; it is a systemic warning sign. The suppression of internal criticism within Israel’s political and military institutions has weakened democratic oversight.

The government’s growing hostility toward judicial and legal bodies also reflects a broader shift of power consolidation during wartime. By undermining the credibility and autonomy of said institutions, the state insulates itself from scrutiny, both domestically and internationally. The erosion of these safeguards transforms law from a tool of justice into an instrument of political advantage.

The case also carries further repercussions in the international arena. Tomer-Yerushalmi’s arrest in fact weakens Israel’s credibility before the International Criminal Court and human-rights bodies. It signals that internal accountability mechanisms are deteriorating from within, a criterion the ICC assesses when determining whether external intervention is warranted. Under the Court’s complementarity principle, the ICC has the power to prosecute cases when national authorities are “unwilling or unable to do so genuienly” ⑤ themselves. When domestic systems appear compromised or subject to political pressure, as in Israel’s current situation, the Court gains greater justification and authority to intervene.

Taken together, these developments highlight that Israel’s diminishing internal oversight not only erodes  its democratic institutions but also heightens its vulnerability to external legal scrutiny.

Recommendations

In order to strengthen institutional resilience and restore accountability, Israel must adopt policies that monitor governmental power while safeguarding human rights and the rule of law. The following four strategies could help mitigate the erosion of legal independence and public trust.

1 • Reinforce legal dependence within the IDF

A separation of powers must be established between political authority and legal oversight. Ensuring that the Military Advocate General operates autonomously from governmental influences is essential to restoring credibility in military investigations and preventing the politicisation of justice.

2 • Protection of whistleblowers and journalists

Those who expose unjust governmental or military conduct should be shielded from state retaliation through a mechanism of protection. Robust whistleblower protections and transparent reporting mechanisms would encourage the disclosure of misconduct and safeguarding the role of a free press in upholding accountability.

3 • International monitoring

External pressure from individual countries, intergovernmental institutions and human rights NGOs can play a critical role in ensuring compliance with international law. It is important to acknowledge that the effectiveness of such oversight remains an ongoing struggle, as political alliances and geopolitical interests often dilute or delay meaningful action. Coordinated monitoring and diplomatic accountability measures would help deter further violations, mitigate these difficulties, reinforce global human rights obligations and punish breaching.

4 • Public education and dialogue

Public perception remains central to sustaining accountability. Challenging the cultural myth of the “the army as sacred”  and fostering open discussion about misconduct can humanise victims of abuse and reshape national narratives. Education and dialogue can, over time, build societal resilience against nationalism and suppression of the truth.

Conclusion

Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi’s arrest underscores the growing fragility of Israel’s institutional checks and balances. When the state prosecutes the very figure responsible for enforcing legal accountability, it signals a deeper erosion of democratic oversight. The case illustrates how security imperatives and political interests increasingly override judicial independence, narrowing the space for internal criticism.

To prevent further institutional decline, Israel must reinforce the autonomy of its legal bodies, ensure protections for whistleblowers and journalists, and restore public confidence in the rule of law. The stability of democratic governance depends not only on military strength but on the credibility of its accountability mechanisms. Without structural reform, episodes such as Tomer-Yerushalmi’s arrest risk normalising impunity and undermining both domestic legitimacy and international standing.

Sources

① « Israel’s politicians are taking on its lawyers once again: The arrest of the IDF’s top lawyer will affect Israel’s political future », The Economist, 5 November 2025.

② Roy Schwartz, « A leaked IDF video showing alleged detainee abuse has Israel reeling, but not in the way you might think », The Guardian, 11 November 2025.

③ Emma Graham-Harrison, « Israel’s top military lawyer arrested after she admitted leaking video of soldiers’ abuse », The Guardian, 3 November 2025.

④ Sebastian Usher, « Israeli military's ex-top lawyer arrested over leak of video

allegedly showing Palestinian detainee abuse », BBC News, 3 November 2025.

⑤ « How the Court works », International Criminal Court, October 2025.