Military Advocate General Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi remained in custody Monday following court rejection of her appeal over her arrest for the alleged leaking of sensitive footage showing IDF supposedly abusing a Hamas terrorist, with police intensifying their investigation into who else in the military command structure knew about a classified video leak.
Police are preparing to confront Tomer-Yerushalmi, with several of her former superiors in the coming days – including former Chief Military Prosecutor Col. Matan Solomon – as they work to identify everyone who was aware of the video leak. Her legal team appealed her extended arrest and requested house arrest instead, contending that no danger exists as authorities claimed.
The top IDF lawyer's will stay in a monitored cell at Nev ve Tirza Prison. Police interrogators will seek her account regarding the missing phone that had been in her possession before her brief disappearance on Sunday when people thought she was going to take her own life – a device that senior police officials say could bolster the case against her.
The court rejected her appeal, keeping her in custody for three additional days. "Review of the investigation material reveals that reasonable suspicion exists for obstruction at this stage of the proceedings."
Judge Shelly Kotin at the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court approved the request earlier Monday to extend Tomer-Yerushalmi's arraignment until November 5, and explained that "fear of obstruction of investigation exists" along with "grounds for her posing a risk." She specified that "the suspicions attributed to the senior officer are fraud and breach of trust, abuse of authority, obstruction of judicial proceedings, and providing information by a public official."
Solomon's detention was also extended until November 5. He claims he proposed sharing with the deputy Military Advocate General everything he knew. His lawyer presented WhatsApp messages showing he learned about the leak only afterward. The police representative countered, "There are things that contradict this."
