Prosecutor Who Exposed Sde Teiman Rape Video Missing After Netanyahu Calls It ‘Israel’s Most Dangerous Attack’
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Israeli police have launched a search for outgoing military prosecutor Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, who admitted leaking a video showing Israeli soldiers raping a Palestinian hostage at the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility in the occupied Negev.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Yerushalmi has been missing for several hours. Police found her car abandoned near a Tel Aviv beach early Sunday morning. Israel Hayom reported that she left a farewell letter inside the vehicle, while Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, said she also left a suicide note at her home.
A senior police source told Haaretz there are serious concerns for her life.
The disappearance comes a few hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the video leak as “the most dangerous propaganda attack in Israel’s history.”
Speaking at Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the footage caused “massive damage to Israel’s image, its army, and its soldiers.” He called for an independent investigation into the leak, which has deeply shaken Israel’s political and military establishment.
The leaked video shows Israeli soldiers torturing and raping a Palestinian hostage at the Sde Teiman base, often referred to by Israeli activists as a “human slaughterhouse.” The recording, from July 2024, spread widely online, sparking outrage abroad but mainly panic within Israel’s leadership over reputational damage and the risk of international prosecution.
Following the leak, right-wing activists, including several Israeli ministers, stormed the base to show support for the soldiers, who committed the assault, denouncing their arrest and framing them as heroes.
A Haaretz investigation published Sunday revealed that Yerushalmi, who was dismissed last week by Defense Minister Israel Katz, had for months avoided launching probes into incidents in Gaza that could constitute war crimes.
Military correspondent Yaniv Kubovich reported that Yerushalmi deliberately froze several sensitive cases due to threats and incitement from Israel’s far-right circles following her involvement in the Sde Teiman affair.
“She felt threatened and stopped making decisions out of fear of personal attacks,” a senior army source told the paper.
Among the cases she ignored was the killing of seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in Deir al-Balah in April 2024. An internal field investigation found that the strike violated operational orders, but Yerushalmi chose not to refer it to military police.
A reserve officer told Haaretz that Yerushalmi also refused to open investigations into the killing of 15 medical staff members in Gaza in March 2024, despite documented evidence and calls from inquiry committees.
According to sources quoted by Haaretz, Yerushalmi had received direct threats at her home and workplace.
One case involved the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-Israeli aid distribution project managed by a private American company. Yerushalmi initially demanded strict legal oversight of the project but later withdrew under political pressure, allowing the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister Ron Dermer to take full control.
UPDATE
Yerushalmi was found alive and unharmed on Sunday evening on a beach in Tel Aviv.
