Israeli Military Prosecutor Arrested for Exposing Palestinian Torture
Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the Israeli military's top lawyer, at the supreme court in Jerusalem, October 1, 2024. Oren Ben Hakoon/AP
On November 3, 2025, Israeli authorities detained Yifat Tolmer-Yerushalmi, a military prosecutor, after she stated that she authorized the circulation of a video showing the torture of a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman prison in the Negev. Tolmer-Yerushalmi resigned on October 31 and explained that the video was released in 2024 in response to the far-right Israeli denial of the abuse. The video clearly shows Israeli soldiers torturing a Palestinian detainee resulting in excruciating physical and psychological injuries.
This case reaffirms a grim truth: that torture and inhuman treatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons is not an exception, but a systematic, routine practice. Tolmer-Yerushalmi's disclosure came in the middle of ongoing reports from the UN that at least 75 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli custody since 2023. In spite of ongoing calls for accountability made by the international community, torture remains a normal part of Israeli prison practices with systematic human rights abuses remain unpunished.
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