tel aviv
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Israel’s top military lawyer has dropped charges against five reservists accused of assaulting Palestinian detainees at the notorious Sde Teyman military prison. The move was welcomed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but condemned by human rights groups.
The charges of aggravated abuse and grievous assault stem from an investigation into a July 2024 incident that took a dramatic turn a month later when a video surfaced showing a Gaza detainee being assaulted and about 20 other detainees lying face down nearby.
The five soldiers beat the man, dragged him to the floor and stomped on his body, breaking his ribs and puncturing his lung, according to the February 2025 indictment. One of the charges also states that the detainee suffered an internal rectal laceration after being stabbed in the buttocks. All five soldiers denied wrongdoing.
The military’s top lawyer, known as the Military Advocate General (MAG), explained why the charges were dropped, saying the surveillance footage recorded in the leaked video “does not clearly and irrefutably show an act of serious violence at the level required for a criminal conviction.”
MAG also cited a number of “exceptional circumstances” in the case, including misconduct by senior officials working in the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Military Justice at the time of the investigation, and the fact that the detainees had been released to Gaza as part of the October 2025 ceasefire agreement and therefore did not stand to be cross-examined at any trial.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and right-wing government officials welcomed the decision. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who previously denounced the incident as “the worst public relations disaster in Israel’s history,” said in a statement: “It is unacceptable that it has taken so long to resolve a case that was criminally pursued against an IDF soldier facing his worst enemy. Israel must pursue its enemy, not its heroic combatants.”
In contrast, human rights groups condemned the announcement.
The Palestinian Prisoner of War Advocacy Center called this a “clear attempt to hide the truth” and “reaffirms that Israel’s military justice system only serves as a means to protect perpetrators of crimes and provide them with de facto immunity from responsibility and punishment.”
Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said the cancellation of the charges “proves that Israel is unwilling and unable to prosecute soldiers suspected of serious violations of international humanitarian law.” The group says there have only been two indictments related to crimes committed by Israeli soldiers during the Gaza war.
The leaked video of the alleged abuse was first aired on Israel’s Channel 12 in August 2024, but it was not the only report to raise concerns about conditions at the base. In May 2024, CNN spoke to three whistleblowers who detailed their alleged abuse at Sude Teyman. Shortly after, Israel announced it would begin phasing out the facility.
Thursday’s decision to dismiss the charges against Sude Teiman marks a major turning point in one of the most controversial and divisive scandals faced by Israel during the Gaza war.
The raid and subsequent arrest sparked a fierce political backlash, with right-wing members of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition participating in protests and riots outside the facility and military court. Israel’s defense minister and other senior political officials denounced the accusations against the soldiers as a “blood libel.”
Israel’s former MAG, Maj. Gen. Iffat Tomer-Yershalmi, became a lightning rod for right-wing anger, ultimately leading to his resignation in October 2025 following an internal investigation into the leaked video. Tomer El-Shalemi acknowledged authorizing the release and said in his resignation letter that it was to “counter false propaganda against the army’s law enforcement agencies” in what he called an “incitement campaign” against him.
Tomer-Yershalmi was arrested and investigated for multiple crimes, including fraud and breach of trust, abuse of public power, obstruction of justice, and disclosure of information by a public official. More than four months later, she still hasn’t been formally charged.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, who has been pushing for an end to the Sude Teiman affair, hastily appointed Major General Itai Ofir, a former defense ministry legal adviser, to replace her. This dismissal is the most important decision since Mr. Offill took office.
Dana Karni and Andrew Carey contributed reporting.
