Former Israeli general arrested over leaked video of Palestinian prisoner abuse

Former Israeli army chief of staff Maj. Gen. Efat Tomer-Yerushalmi has been arrested over the release of a video of the horrific abuse of a Palestinian prisoner. The leaked video allegedly shows the horrific abuse of a Palestinian prisoner at the Teiman military base in southern Israel.
Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned as military advocate general last week. He said he took full responsibility for the leak of the video. Two days after his resignation, he was rescued by police from a beach north of Tel Aviv last Sunday. He was later arrested.
A video broadcast by an Israeli media outlet in August showed army reservists hiding behind a Palestinian prisoner and torturing him with sticks and sharp objects. The prisoner was later taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Five reservists have been charged with “serious physical abuse and harm”, although they deny the charges. Lawyer Adi Kaidar of the right-wing legal aid organization Honenu said his clients had been “biased and fabricated”.
It later emerged that the prisoner had been returned to Gaza in October as part of a prisoner swap with Hamas. After a criminal investigation into the incident began, Tomer-Yerushalmi was placed on leave. Defense Minister Israel Katz later said he would not return to duty. He resigned shortly afterwards.
In his resignation letter, he wrote, “I had allowed the media to publish certain information in order to combat false propaganda against the army. If there is any suspicion of violence against the prisoners, we must investigate it.”
However, Defense Minister Katz called his actions “slander against the army”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the Teiman incident was the most serious propaganda blow since the founding of the state of Israel.
Israeli police said on Sunday night that two people had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the video leak and serious crimes. According to Israeli media, they were Tomar-Yerushalmi and former military prosecutor Col. Matan Solomosh.
Source: BBC