The meaning of the Tomer-Yerushalmi affair
Can Israel remain the strong, proud democracy it must be to survive when the war for its existence is fought not only on the battlefield but inside its own institutions?
Military Advocate General, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi
Shock and countershock seized Israel on Sunday, as the nation held its breath over the fate of Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the newly suspended military advocate general.
A distinguished general, lawyer and one of the most capable women ever to rise within the Israel Defense Forces, she vanished early in the morning and was later found alive after what seemed a desperate attempt to flee the fury of public opinion.
The story of her collapse is more than a personal tragedy. It mirrors the storm that is gripping Israel itself—a country fighting for its life against Hamas while also battling a corrosive internal war over ideology, truth and loyalty.
The scandal began months ago, when a shocking video appeared purporting to show Israeli soldiers abusing a Palestinian prisoner in the Sde Teiman detention facility. The video, which circulated globally before being revealed as fabricated, was enough to tarnish Israel’s reputation and feed the world’s worst anti-Israel fantasies: rape, murder and genocide.
It also served Hamas’s propaganda machine, conveniently turning the tables on accusations of the mass sexual atrocities its terrorists committed on Oct. 7, 2023.
It has since emerged that the video was passed to the media from within the military’s own legal branch, led by Tomer-Yerushalmi. The act—whether one of grave naiveté, hubris or political calculation—destroyed lives.
The soldiers accused have become pariahs and their families hounded. Their commander-in-chief, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called it the worst assault Israel had ever suffered from within. “This is perhaps the most severe public relations attack that the State of Israel has experienced since its establishment,” he told the Cabinet.
Tomer-Yerushalmi’s defenders describe her as a woman trapped between her conscience and her chain of command, caught in the crossfire of a political war between the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, and the government. It appears there may have been a reciprocal exchange of favors between the two, raising questions about their commitment to the state and the integrity of their offices.
But there is no denying that Tomer-Yerushalmi’s actions, and those of the system that protected her, wounded Israel’s moral shield at a time when it most needed unity.
What happened at Sde Teiman is a parable of our times. Ideological zeal, clothed in the language of justice, becomes a weapon against the nation it claims to defend. It is a kind of self-destruction—the same moral confusion that allows Israel’s enemies to manipulate truth while some of our own elites assist them.
While Tomer-Yerushalmi’s life was saved, the soul of the country stands in question. Can Israel remain the strong, proud democracy it must be to survive when the war for its existence is fought not only on the battlefield but inside its own institutions?
Meanwhile, Hamas continues its cynical games—promising to return three hostages’ bodies while maneuvering for the evacuation of 200 terrorists from Gaza. It flaunts weapons even during supposed humanitarian operations, proving once again that it is clinging to its murderous power.
Perhaps Hamas is beginning to understand that its days are numbered. U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan, or any plan that demands disarmament, is an existential threat to the terror organization.
But as history teaches, it will not give up until it is forced to. And the one to do that, as always, will have to be Israel itself—if only it can stop turning its fury inward and remember what it is fighting for.
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