1)🧵📜📝Summary of Israel’s political-military scandal that has been rocking the country (as of November 7th)- What we know so far
Strap your boots- this is a better script than any political thriller series.
As some of you have heard, Israel’s military advocate general, Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, has been fired and arrested after charges of fraud, breach of trust, obstruction of justice and misuse of power.
The case started last year when a video was leaked to the media which allegedly showed IDF reserve troops sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee in Sde Teiman. As of now, we know the video was stitched together and leaked to the media. It is not clear what actually took place but this is beside the point of the scandal.
What happened over the past week was the discovery that the source of the leaked video was Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, the woman who was supposed to investigate the source of the leaked video.
What came later was even more shocking- Tomer Yerushalmi along with her deputies coverup their tracks and lied to Israeli media, courts and the Israeli people with the alleged help of the attorney general, Gali Baharav Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman. This is one on the biggest coverups in Israel’s history showcasing how Israel’s “deep state” operates with top officials covering for each other and acting with top goal of self preservation.
Here is a conclusive summary of the main points of the story as reported in Israeli media to make sense of what we know so far:
How did we discover the case?
Tomer yerushalmi wanted to promote one of her subordinates to a new position. As part of the procedures in the military share took a poligrpah test where she failed to pass when asked about her ties to the leak. Then she spilled the beans on the leak. The shin bet notified the military of the leak and this was passed to the military correspondents.
Strap your boots- this is a better script than any political thriller series.
As some of you have heard, Israel’s military advocate general, Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, has been fired and arrested after charges of fraud, breach of trust, obstruction of justice and misuse of power.
The case started last year when a video was leaked to the media which allegedly showed IDF reserve troops sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee in Sde Teiman. As of now, we know the video was stitched together and leaked to the media. It is not clear what actually took place but this is beside the point of the scandal.
What happened over the past week was the discovery that the source of the leaked video was Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, the woman who was supposed to investigate the source of the leaked video.
What came later was even more shocking- Tomer Yerushalmi along with her deputies coverup their tracks and lied to Israeli media, courts and the Israeli people with the alleged help of the attorney general, Gali Baharav Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman. This is one on the biggest coverups in Israel’s history showcasing how Israel’s “deep state” operates with top officials covering for each other and acting with top goal of self preservation.
Here is a conclusive summary of the main points of the story as reported in Israeli media to make sense of what we know so far:
How did we discover the case?
Tomer yerushalmi wanted to promote one of her subordinates to a new position. As part of the procedures in the military share took a poligrpah test where she failed to pass when asked about her ties to the leak. Then she spilled the beans on the leak. The shin bet notified the military of the leak and this was passed to the military correspondents.
2) Attorney General, Baharav Miara, wrote over a year ago that it is unacceptable to assume that the investigation of the source of the leak would be tainted by the military advocate general as suggested by some commentators on the right.
Baharav miara said at the time that the investigation concluded there is nothing to investigate further and there is no technological way to find the source of the leaked video.
To put everything in context, Baharav Miara “owes” to Tomer Yerushalmi- Baharav Miara’s son, and IDF officer, stole a vest from the army and yet he wasn’t indicted despite a video of him caught in the act and his admission. Tomer Yerushalmi as part of her job is responsible for administering justice in the army.
Tomer yerushalmi had a WhatsApp group which was used to coordinate with her deputies the leak and the coverup.
Tomer yerushalmi lied to the court and said they couldn’t find the source of the leak.
Baharav miara said at the time that the investigation concluded there is nothing to investigate further and there is no technological way to find the source of the leaked video.
To put everything in context, Baharav Miara “owes” to Tomer Yerushalmi- Baharav Miara’s son, and IDF officer, stole a vest from the army and yet he wasn’t indicted despite a video of him caught in the act and his admission. Tomer Yerushalmi as part of her job is responsible for administering justice in the army.
Tomer yerushalmi had a WhatsApp group which was used to coordinate with her deputies the leak and the coverup.
Tomer yerushalmi lied to the court and said they couldn’t find the source of the leak.
3) Why did tomer yeshulami leak the video?
It appears in her letter of resignation she felt the pressure from the right for the investigative actions that the advocate general took against unit 100 (the unit accused of sexually harassing the Palestine detainee) and she wanted to get more legitimacy in the eyes of rhetorical Israeli public.
The meaning behind it is that Tomer Yerushalmi basically said that her main motive was to clear her unit’s name and herself from criticism and was willing to throw the soldiers of unit 100 under the bus.
Beside the Machiavellian cynicism of this thinking, it reveals the motives of those who are tasked with administration of justice through the military justice system.
And, yes even jurists can be conniving political actors who are acting in their own self-preservation interests and are not professional early perfect justice advocates as some on Israel’s left might suggest.
This directly ties in to the rot and disconnect between the elected and judicial classes that culminated in the 2023 judicial reform.
What happens now is that other parts of Israel’s jurist class who were implicated in the scandal are bending over backwards to pin all of the blame on Tomer Yerushalmi alone to clear their names . This is precisely the reason why Israel’s attorney general Baharav miara ,who protected tomer yerushalmi when the video came out one year ago, is demanding that she would be responsible for the investigation.
Israel’s justice minister who is hostile to Israel’s jurist class is opposed to giving Baharav miara the authority to investigate the very case she may be implicated in.
It appears in her letter of resignation she felt the pressure from the right for the investigative actions that the advocate general took against unit 100 (the unit accused of sexually harassing the Palestine detainee) and she wanted to get more legitimacy in the eyes of rhetorical Israeli public.
The meaning behind it is that Tomer Yerushalmi basically said that her main motive was to clear her unit’s name and herself from criticism and was willing to throw the soldiers of unit 100 under the bus.
Beside the Machiavellian cynicism of this thinking, it reveals the motives of those who are tasked with administration of justice through the military justice system.
And, yes even jurists can be conniving political actors who are acting in their own self-preservation interests and are not professional early perfect justice advocates as some on Israel’s left might suggest.
This directly ties in to the rot and disconnect between the elected and judicial classes that culminated in the 2023 judicial reform.
What happens now is that other parts of Israel’s jurist class who were implicated in the scandal are bending over backwards to pin all of the blame on Tomer Yerushalmi alone to clear their names . This is precisely the reason why Israel’s attorney general Baharav miara ,who protected tomer yerushalmi when the video came out one year ago, is demanding that she would be responsible for the investigation.
Israel’s justice minister who is hostile to Israel’s jurist class is opposed to giving Baharav miara the authority to investigate the very case she may be implicated in.
4) It is worth noting that when the scandal erupted over a year ago many commentators on the right correctly asked who leaked the footage that is cooked (the time stamps are stitched together very clumsily). Some even suggested that someone in the advocate general unit leaked the video but no one went so far to suggest that it would be the advocate general herself.
Matan solomosh, the IDF top prosecutor was also indicted and confronted with the same officer who broke the news of the leak. She showed investigators texts on the day of the leak showing he was in on the leak despite his denial of any prior knowledge.
It goes without saying that it would be difficult to investigate the investigators who are used to the tricks of investigations.
Israel’s State attorney was probably involved in the scandal in someway like the Attorney general since he was part of the initial investigation of the leak and found “nothing” as evident in his response to the high court back in January and his position was identical to that of the attorney general.
The attorney general broke her conflict of interest agreement which determined that she would have to appoint an attorney for the investigation that is approved by the justice ministry’s legal advisor. She simply ignored that instruction and gave the investigation to the State Attorney who is also suspected to have been part of the coverup.
The justice ministry’s legal advisor has said that the attorney general cannot be part of the investigation because she cannot investigate herself and she is in a conflict of interest.
Matan solomosh, the IDF top prosecutor was also indicted and confronted with the same officer who broke the news of the leak. She showed investigators texts on the day of the leak showing he was in on the leak despite his denial of any prior knowledge.
It goes without saying that it would be difficult to investigate the investigators who are used to the tricks of investigations.
Israel’s State attorney was probably involved in the scandal in someway like the Attorney general since he was part of the initial investigation of the leak and found “nothing” as evident in his response to the high court back in January and his position was identical to that of the attorney general.
The attorney general broke her conflict of interest agreement which determined that she would have to appoint an attorney for the investigation that is approved by the justice ministry’s legal advisor. She simply ignored that instruction and gave the investigation to the State Attorney who is also suspected to have been part of the coverup.
The justice ministry’s legal advisor has said that the attorney general cannot be part of the investigation because she cannot investigate herself and she is in a conflict of interest.
6) Israel’s justice minister, Levin, wanted to appoint former justice Asher Kula to lead the investigation against the opposition of the attorney general who insisted that the state attorney would be the one to investigate.
Eventually the high court blocked the justice minister’s attempt to appoint Kula to investigate.
The attorney general passed her response to the high court (after a petition demanding she recused herself from the investigation because of her conflict of interest) saying that she transferred the investigative powers to the state attorney 2.5 hours later than then deadline the Supreme Court set (nov 6th at 22:00)
Eventually the high court blocked the justice minister’s attempt to appoint Kula to investigate.
The attorney general passed her response to the high court (after a petition demanding she recused herself from the investigation because of her conflict of interest) saying that she transferred the investigative powers to the state attorney 2.5 hours later than then deadline the Supreme Court set (nov 6th at 22:00)
7) When the scandal first broke out, the Advocate general disappeared for a few hours and left her car near a beach which led many to suspect she committed suicide as she left a note for her family.
She was found healthy after a few hours soaked wet in the beach without her phone.
Later it was found that she probably fabricated her suicidal ideation giving her time to throw her phone to the sea , attempting to destroy incriminating evidence about the leak and the coverup.
The advocate general’s phone was finally found on the beach after 5 days of frantic searches by law enforcement and private citizens. A private citizen set the prize at 100000 Nis ($31,000) for whomever finds the Advocate general’s phone as metal detector enthusiasts flocked to the beaches.
After a brawl broke out between the volunteers who searched for the advocate general’s phone about who should get the prize money , the police intervened and it seems that no one would receive the award.
She was found healthy after a few hours soaked wet in the beach without her phone.
Later it was found that she probably fabricated her suicidal ideation giving her time to throw her phone to the sea , attempting to destroy incriminating evidence about the leak and the coverup.
The advocate general’s phone was finally found on the beach after 5 days of frantic searches by law enforcement and private citizens. A private citizen set the prize at 100000 Nis ($31,000) for whomever finds the Advocate general’s phone as metal detector enthusiasts flocked to the beaches.
After a brawl broke out between the volunteers who searched for the advocate general’s phone about who should get the prize money , the police intervened and it seems that no one would receive the award.
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