Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levi has confirmed that former IDF Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was hospitalized Sunday morning after a suicide attempt, reportedly swallowing around 20 sleeping pills.
Tomer-Yerushalmi, who resigned from her post on Oct. 31 amid scandal over her admitted leak of a video of IDF reservists allegedly abusing a Gazan terrorist detainee at the Sde Teiman military jail, remains hospitalized at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center’s Ichilov Hospital as police consider extending her house arrest.
Tomer-Yerushalmi is conscious, a hospital spokesperson said.
The former top IDF lawyer was found unconscious in her home in the central city of Ramat Hasharon, but was not in life-threatening condition. The hospital reportedly ran tests to check whether she had taken too many sleeping pills.
Following the incident, the Israel Police appealed to the court to tighten the restrictions of Tomer-Yerushalmi’s house arrest, Israel’s Channel 14 News reported. Additional measures requested included continuous supervision during hospitalization and a ban on leaving the country, with the obligation to deposit all her passports with the police.
“She tried to commit suicide; her life is not rosy,” Levi said.
“If she committed the offense, this affects how the army looks, how soldiers behave. We send our kids to an organization where they should be sure that nobody is leaking things, and that’s why we’re probing it,” he added.
Meanwhile, the office of Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that he signed the letter appointing Itai Ofir to replace Tomer-Yerushalmi as the military advocate general. Katz had announced the appointment on Nov. 4.
“Attorney Ofir will be granted the rank of major general and will take office on November 24,” according to the statement.
Ofir, 52, who was among the candidates recommended by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has served as legal advisor to the Defense Ministry, practiced law in Israel and the United States, and was a senior partner in a Tel Aviv law firm. In 2022, he was among three finalists for attorney general. Gali Baharav-Miara was chosen for the post.
Tomer-Yerushalmi was released to 10 days of house arrest on Friday after spending five days in detention.
Resignation letter
In her resignation letter, Tomer-Yerushalmi admitted she had approved the leak of the video footage, claiming she had done so in an attempt to “fend off false propaganda directed against military law enforcement authorities.”
The footage from the Sde Teiman detention center in the Negev Desert allegedly shows an assault on a terrorist by five IDF reserve troops.
The former IDF military advocate general was arrested on the evening of Nov. 2 on charges of fraud, breach of trust, abuse of office, obstruction of justice and the passing of information by a public servant.
Tomer-Yerushalmi’s arrest came after she disappeared on a Tel Aviv beach for several hours, in what police now believes was a staged suicide attempt to evade arrest and tamper with evidence.
The former MAG’s disappearance was initially thought to be a potential suicide as her car was found abandoned at the beach and she had left a brief, obscure note for her family, which said, in part, “Don’t look back.”
She was located several hours after her disappearance. In the interim, her phone had disappeared. During initial police questioning, when asked about the device, Tomer-Yerushalmi told them: “Maybe my phone fell into the sea. I don’t remember.”
The phone was located by a swimmer on Friday, according to Channel 12.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Nov. 2 blamed the former MAG for “perhaps the most severe public relations attack the State of Israel has experienced since its establishment.”
The leak “caused immense damage to the image of the State of Israel and the IDF, to our soldiers,” Netanyahu said at a Cabinet meeting.
Netanyahu said the public-relations damage Israel suffered due to the leak was more “focused with such intensity” than any previous assault its international legitimacy that he could recall.
“This requires an independent, impartial investigation, and I expect such an investigation to take place,” the premier added, speaking several hours before Tomer-Yerushalmi was reported missing.
