by Yisrael Medad
Many questions remain unresolved about the Sde Teiman scandal and its leaked footage.
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In my column here on April 7 this year, I opined that we in Israel have reached a stage in Israel’s political life where its democratic system is being threatened. That threat, I wrote, “stems from non-elected appointed officials and employees of state institutions, the so-called ‘deep state.’”
I did not include at that time in my list of examples the matter of the leaked Sde Teiman video broadcast by Channel 12’s Guy Peleg.
That matter has now returned to our attention with the resignation of the military advocate-general Maj.-Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi and her subsequent arrest, as well as that of the IDF chief prosecutor Col. Matan Solomosh. Others are being questioned as well.
As the affair is fluid, with unexpected developments still unfolding, one cannot be sure exactly what is a fact and what is a suspicion and if any other officials will be drawn into the vortex. What is, however, apparent, is that there is an extensive deep state. On Tuesday, former IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari was called in for questioning. This is an ongoing investigation.
Moreover, we now can more clearly see the audacity of its actions and its willingness to take alleged illegal steps even if a trial has not yet taken place.
The deep state conspiracy
The deep state is a phenomenon that citizens were being convinced, especially by its allies, we were being protected from. Unfortunately, the direction in which this affair is going currently is disturbing.These officials and officers, senior members of Israel’s public bureaucracy, were supposed to be the heralded gatekeepers of democracy and public morals. As these lines are being written, however, Israel’s citizens may be getting the impression that perhaps some of the names in the headlines are in fact doormats.
There is another element for which to be on the lookout, and that is the link between members of Israel’s bureaucracy and NGOs. The suspicion that several IDF soldiers were abusing prisoners, one in particular, at the Sde Teiman detention camp, came from, as reported, a doctor connected to Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI).
Already in April 2024, Haaretz had published a letter written by a PHRI doctor accusing authorities at Sde Teiman of “violating medical ethics and the law.” Even earlier, in December 2023, Haaretz had begun reporting on claims that the detainees in the facility were being ill-treated. All this dovetailed with a pro-Gaza campaign to dehumanize the IDF promoted by various anti-war NGOs.
Then came leaked CCTV footage that Guy Peleg broadcast, purportedly showing Israeli soldiers gang-raping a detainee with a metal rod. The reliability of the video was cast in doubt, most prominently by Channel 11’s Ayala Hasson. It had been edited, did not show sexual abuse, and contained at least two separate time frames. On one of the claimed time frames, the prisoner was not at Sde Teiman. Peleg never responded to the outrage his broadcast provoked.
The most serious concern was who had leaked the clip. Peleg would not reveal his source. At the very least, it is criminal to obstruct and interfere with an ongoing investigation.
Investigating the leak
Tomer-Yerushalmi and her entire office, the prime suspect of the leak, had clammed up and covered up their own crimes. Not only did they delay any investigation, but Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara similarly failed to press for an investigation. When it finally began, it was an internal review, not external nor involving the police.There is yet a deeper layer. A petition had been presented to the High Court of Justice demanding the leak be investigated. Baharav-Miara’s office argued that the video clip did not harm state security, which was a lie.
At that hearing, Justice Daphne Barak-Erez rejected objections that Baharav-Miara’s submission was less than truthful. She informed the petitioners: “Listen carefully, the military advocate-general is a gatekeeper, and gatekeepers never lie. I was also in the Military Chief Prosecutor’s Office, and military prosecutors don’t lie.”
The video, as we know, had been included in a United Nations report and had earned a condemnation from the Biden administration (that could have used it to halt arms shipments), other governments, and multiple human rights NGOs. The negative international media coverage that led to attacks on Israelis and Jews abroad was immense. Despite all this, Baharav-Miara remained stoically uninvolved.
Due to a Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) polygraph test on the former spokesperson of the military advocate unit coming to light, Baharav-Miara announced her decision to open a criminal investigation. Many have forgotten that former IDF chief of staff Herzl Halevi took no steps to clear up the matter during his time at command as well.
Two questions, however, remain unresolved. Did the attorney-general stall on behalf of the military prosecutor purposely? Was she desirous that she would go easy on her son, accused of stealing a soldier’s equipment, as we learned in December 2024? Was former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar involved in the affair, as it took the current head, David Zini, less than two weeks to obtain the critical evidence?
And have we forgotten the matter of the IDF Southern Command spy case, of the lieutenant who falsified his identity and infiltrated the Southern Command base, taking part in classified meetings and recording classified communications? Did he pass on information to public figures whose identity is being withheld from the public?
Will these affairs now unravel quickly? Will state witnesses now come forward? Will the investigators actively pursue the truth, or will time continue to be wasted?
Yisrael Medad is a researcher, analyst, and commentator on political, cultural, and media issues.
Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-872854
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