Outrage over video leak of Israeli soldiers’ gang rape of Palestinian exposes rot in Israeli society
Sid Shniad
MONDOWEISS November 4, 2025
Outrage over video leak of Israeli soldiers’ gang rape of Palestinian exposes rot in Israeli society
There’s outrage in Israel over the leaked video of Israeli soldiers gang-raping a Palestinian prisoner. However, the outrage isn’t about the rape itself but the fact that the video was leaked in the first place.
By Jonathan Ofir
Screenshot from an Israeli Channel 12 report on the sexual assault and rape of a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman prison. (Screenshot: Channel 12)Israelis are having a meltdown over the leak of a video of Israeli soldiers gang raping a Palestinian prisoner at the notorious Sde Teiman torture camp.
The uproar isn’t about the dozen or so Israeli soldiers who inserted a sharp object into a Palestinian prisoner’s anus and ripped his rectum apart. No, it’s over the fact that it was made public at all — and leaked by Israel’s Chief Military Advocate, no less.
On Sunday night, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the top lawyer supposedly in charge of making sure the Israeli army follows the law, was arrested after having revealed last Friday that she was the one who had leaked the infamous rape video to the media over a year ago.
The court case against the suspected rapists — who are not even charged with rape, but “aggravated abuse” and “causing aggravated injury” — is still ongoing. Meanwhile, Tomer-Yerushalmi is now being leveled with charges such as “breach of loyalty,” “breach of trust,” “dereliction of duty,” and “disrupting investigative operations,” Israel’s Channel 12 reported in Hebrew.
In her resignation letter, the ex-Military Advocate said she approved the video leak “in an attempt to rebuff the deceitful propaganda against the law-enforcing elements in the army.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netantahu did not miss the opportunity to dramatize the matter, portraying the whole case as an attack on the nation: “This is perhaps the most severe public relations attack that the state of Israel has experienced since its establishment,” he railed.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called the case a “blood libel,” promising that “all required sanctions” would be taken against Tomer-Yerushalmi, including stripping her of her rank.
“Anyone who falsely spreads blood libels against IDF soldiers and prefers the welfare of the Nukhba terrorists over theirs is not worthy of wearing the IDF uniform and belongs in prison,” the Defense Minister said. Although, as the Times of Israel and other news sources clarified, the Palestinian detainee who was raped by the reservists in Sde Teiman was a civilian and not a Hamas fighter.
Even still, the leak is playing to the rapists’ favor, since the nature of the leak might end up compromising the position of the prosecution.
What’s notable about all this is the popular outrage in Israel, with widespread sympathy toward the “wronged” soldiers turning the affair into a national story — in support of their right to rape Palestinians with impunity.
‘Instead of hugs, we get accusations’
In late July last year, the Sde Teiman gang rape leak was already at the center of protests by right-wing activists and politicians and activists — not over the rape itself, but over the fact that the suspects were facing trial.
The case’s prime suspect, Meir Ben-Shitrit, had already become a media star in Israel, as if he were the victim. On Saturday, he again appeared on Israel’s right-wing Channel 14, where he was framed as the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
“Maybe everything here is rotten,” the host coaxed.
“Yes,” Ben Shitrit answered. “There is one big rot here, and it’s being revealed in front of our eyes.”
The accused gang rapist called for the arrest of the Chief Military Advocate and her staff: “they all need to be arrested, their telephones need to be confiscated, and the same needs to be done to them as they did to us. Not as revenge — it needs to be done because they are criminals.”
On Sunday, a group of soldiers who are also suspects in the case made a video of their own, standing in front of the Israeli Supreme Court. Unlike Ben Shitrit, they were masked.
“I stand here today because I am tired of staying silent,” one of them said. “Instead of hugs, we get accusations. And instead of thanks, we got silence.”
“You did not allow us to respond or explain. You gave us a show trial in front of the cameras and already decided who was guilty,” the soldier went on.
“We will not remain silent. We will keep fighting for justice and for our families. You may have tried to break us, but you forgot that we are a force of a hundred men,” he added.
Rally around the rapists
In Israel, there is widespread popular sympathy for the rapists. In August of last year, two out of three Israelis who were polled said they would oppose the criminal prosecution of the suspects even if “there is a basis for the suspicion.” At most, a few “disciplinary measures” would be warranted, 65% of respondents said. In Israel, this effectively means a slap on the wrist.
Tomer-Yerushalmi, in her resignation letter, said that the detainees at Sde Teiman were “terrorists and terror operatives of the worst kind,” yet called for the “basic understanding” that there are “actions which must never be taken even against the vilest of detainees.” The ex-Military Advocate was complaining that this rationale “no longer convinces everyone.”
This whole drama demonstrates a profound truth about Israeli culture. In fact, the primary rape suspect himself, Ben Shitrit, put it well. There is “one big rot” here, and it’s “being revealed in front of our eyes.”
How much more do we need to see before we’re convinced Israel is incapable of prosecuting its own crimes?