Israels top military lawyer arrested after she admitted leaking video of abuse

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/03/israels-top-military-lawyer-arrested-after-she-admitted-leaking-video-of-soldiers-abuse

by NomDePlum • 9 months ago

332 54 9 months ago

theguardian.com

myrmidon• 9 months ago

I think it is hugely underappreciated that in most of "the west" we can have public media content that is critical of army/politicians/administration and just makes the nation look bad abroad.

I'm talking less about "free speech" as a concept and more about how the majority still thinks its worthwhile to have and allow such things even if they hurt.

This is not something to take for granted, and I often find people oblivious to this privilege. There were lots of voices arguing along similar lines during the Snowden leaks ("should be punished/swept under the rug because it makes America look bad"), but I think this is truly a cornerstone of a free society, and the concerning thing here to me is not even how the Israeli lawyer or Army acted, but how Israeli public perception is seemingly changing on this.

o999• 9 months ago

..and the concerning thing here to me is not even how the Israeli lawyer or Army acted, but how Israeli public perception is seemingly changing on this.

Nothing changed, they have always been this way..

shadyKeystrokes• 9 months ago

The absence of all ugly is the real ugly.

cosmicgadget• 9 months ago

suspects in a violent assault on a Palestinian from Gaza, including anal rape. The victim was hospitalised with injuries including broken ribs, a punctured lung and rectal damage, according to the indictment

... then...

“The [investigation] in Sde Teiman caused immense damage to the image of the state of Israel and the IDF [Israel Defense Forces],” the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a statement on Sunday. “This is perhaps the most severe public relations attack that the state of Israel has experienced since its establishment.”

... then unsurprisingly...

a far-right mob gathered outside Sde Teiman calling for the investigation to be dropped.

... and so...

said in a resignation letter last week that she had authorised publication of the video to defuse attacks on military investigators and prosecutors working on the case.

duxup• 9 months ago

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed his defence minister's words on Sunday, saying that the incident at Sde Teiman was "perhaps the most severe public relations attack that the State of Israel has experienced since its establishment".

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0kpd97qqko

This is all very inconvenient that people know the truth I guess ...

port112• 9 months ago

I'm not versed enough in the full history of Israel, but perhaps attacking several of your neighbours, buying anti-citizen and anti-journalism spyware, raping prisoners, keeping a de facto dictator in power… well, I think Israel has done plenty to smear its own image.

Am I in a bubble? Because for more than a year I'd be hard pressed to find anyone in my country that would still be pro-Israel as a whole. Some nuanced support, surely, but also widespread condemnation.

DANmode• 9 months ago

Quick correction: they are the main exporter, not purchaser, of the spyware people see named in famous cases against journalists, politicians, et al.

voidspacexyz• 9 months ago

Interesting, that when it comes to Israel, it's a scandal and not an exposure. With every other country, an apple would be an apple and not a banana.

hedora• 9 months ago

I think the term you are looking for is “blood libel”, which I haven’t heard until recently.

From context, it means “to speak the truth and present irrefutable evidence to back it up”.

I guess that’s a crime?

water-data-dude• 9 months ago

No, it's a very specific thing and not at all applicable here. Blood libel was something along the lines of "the Jewish people are murdering children to use their blood for secret ceremonies"[0]. The "libel" part should give it away - it doesn't apply to someone revealing true facts.

The people calling it blood libel because the facts are inconvenient and make Israel look bad are being disingenuous.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel

throwawayk7h• 9 months ago

This is the first time I've ever seen someone suggest there was truth to the blood libel. It seems pretty obviously absurd to me that there would exist a Jewish ritual requiring Christian blood. Can you provide this "irrefutable evidence," please?

neoromantique3• 9 months ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Manning

Definitely. Not even talking about likes of Russia or China where said person would simply disappear.

negativelambda• 9 months ago

Israeli soldiers sexually abuse a Palestinian prisoner, while the leaker gets hounded. From settler violence to cases like this, there is little or no accountability anymore in Israel.

richardfeynman3• 9 months ago

This is an allegation. There's been no trial and the footage, which was doctored, does not clearly show this. Innocent until proven guilty.

snypher• 9 months ago

Reuters—OHCHR: weaponisation of food as potential war crime (June 24, 2025).

Reuters—UN adds IDF to list of grave violators against children (June 7, 2024).

Reuters—breakdown of verified Gaza deaths (women/children) from UN rights office (Nov 8, 2024).

Just allegations.

samrus2• 9 months ago

[flagged]

ebbi2• 9 months ago

anymore? Based on the many books I've read about Israel, there was never any accountability. It's just more prominent and unavoidable now because of social media.

Grimblewald• 9 months ago

who spoke on the condition of anonymity
he

come on, couldn't opt for gender neutral pronouns? Just had the help identify the person huh. Of those who were involved with treatment, i imagine an already small number, leaking gender and details of what was shared and the scope of their specific involment may cut it down to a very small number of plausible people, if not the exact person.

zizee• 9 months ago

Why does the reportimg say she "abandoned" her car at the beach? She was at the beach when she was located. People usually do not take their cars with them once they arrive at their destination. To get out and walk is not abandoning the car.

tguvot5• 9 months ago

she either tried to commit suicide or tried to stage it. she was found wet without some of her clothes

_aavaa_• 9 months ago

Wet without some of her clothes, at a beach. Isn’t that what people do at a beach?

sigmar• 9 months ago

The indictment said the soldiers assaulted the Palestinian prisoner and sodomized him with a knife, causing multiple injuries... When military police came to Sde Teiman in July to detain the soldiers suspected of abuse, they scuffled with protesters opposed to the arrests.

How the fuck do people go out there protesting in support of the violent rape of prisoners? Sickening stuff.

anal_reactor• 9 months ago

That's average person for ya.

DSingularity4• 9 months ago

Do you mean the average Israeli? You can’t believe the average person is like this.

mikkupikku• 9 months ago

The whole situation is so extreme it almost reads like sick parody. Last year there were riots in Israel when some IDF soldiers were arrested for raping prisoners. The riots were in defense of the rapists, and were attended not only by extremist Israeli civilians but also Israeli lawmakers, who stormed the military base where the rapists were being held.

The leaker releases a video of some of the abuse and is then accused of "blood libel" against the IDF by the Minister of Defense, Israel Katz. That phrase, "blood libel", is specifically intended to invoke the old medieval stories of Jewish people sacrificing and eating gentile children for their religious holidays. For leaking a video proving that the abuse is real.

ebbi2• 9 months ago

One of the rapists is now paraded as a hero on Israeli TV. Sick, sick society.

Lord-Jobo• 9 months ago

No wonder our leaders have gotten along so well in modern history (U.S.)

What is happening in these modern democracies that has led to this sick embrace of cruelty, pessimism ,and apathy?

It really feels like pessimism is the rot or maybe anti-optimism; how can things ever get better if the culture rejects the idea that better things are possible?

Better things are possible, very difficult, and extremely necessary. Fight for it.

stanfordkid2• 9 months ago

And all we have to do to have them roll over on our command is to threaten the halt of the billions of weapons and aid we send annually. My main issue is that Israel/US relations feel like the tail is wagging the dog. Israel exists because of the West. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that we have immense leverage over them due to them being surrounded by enemies and dependent on US weapons systems like the Iron Dome... we can basically force them to do whatever it is we want. I blame the US and the bought politicians for the tragedy in Gaza as much as I do the Israeli's.

I have the feeling Israel simply will go the way of Rhodesia within a few generations due to the actions of this war resulting in widespread de-legitimization on both sides of the political spectrum and especially generationally. No one in the US actually wants to spend tax money on a patch of land in the Middle East the size of New Jersey, especially if they don't behave.

tguvot5• 9 months ago

just to correct your timeline. riots were at base of military police and not all over Israel as can be understood from your message.

Leaker leaked the videos in order to show seriousness of accusation because before that wasn't clear what exactly happened and many people thought that soldiers were simply rough with prisoners and military policy actions not justified.

Leak happened august last year. Katz statement happened this week.

bfkwlfkjf• 9 months ago

This is common in fundamentalist theocracies.

richardfeynman3• 9 months ago

... and does not exist in Israel, which is a liberal democracy, not a theocracy, and not fundamentalist.

jauntywundrkind• 9 months ago

The US side doesn't quite have this, but man we sure have a parade of officials shown the door or who resign. No major leaks like this, but:

A. Notable how in the US all the JAGs were dismissed almost immediately, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/02/24/people-are-ve...

B. And now CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis has let go of Counsel there & appointed himself Acting General Counsel, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/us/politics/michael-ellis...

C. And top southern command admiral just retired after having bombing boats in the carribean. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/us/politics/southern-comm...

Sure seems like the US is trying to purge faster than any weak links can form.

amai• 9 months ago

Don't forget: It was the raping that caused the damage to the IDF and the global standing of Israel, not the leaking.

But nowadays it seems to be en vogue again to shoot the messenger.

oliwarner• 9 months ago

But you can't get away with anything if people keep reporting the truth. And the IDF is used to getting away with everything. Therefore the reporting is the problem.

_menelaus• 9 months ago

The IDF was formed from the merger of 3 terrorist organizations responsible for bombings and murders of Palestinian, British and even Jewish civilians. Not much has changed.

ratelimitsteve• 9 months ago

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-war-idf-palestinia...

Here is a member of the Knesset explicitly endorsing the anal rape of Palestinian prisoners

user6466272• 9 months ago

Let's keep the political news out of HN. Way too much of this news is covered

esalman• 9 months ago

You can keep the politics out of tech. But can you keep the tech out of government overreach, politics, and terror?

Daishiman• 9 months ago

25 years back when the political news about tech companies was related to intra/industry lobbying and monopoly questions that may have been a possibility.

Tech companies are doing direct dealing with nation-states and being active participants in military policy. This is no longer possible.

Israels top military lawyer arrested after she admitted leaking video of abuse

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