IDF's Top Lawyer Arrested for Leaking Abuse — Not for Abuse Itself
The BBC's account of Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi's arrest frames the leak of a video 'allegedly showing abuse of a Palestinian detainee' as the core infraction. One might assume the priority sits with investigating the systematic abuse, but alas, the focus shifts to punishing the messenger. This is a classic deflection: addressing the symptom (the leak) while ignoring the systemic disease
(the alleged abuse itself). This isn't an isolated incident. Human rights organizations like B'Tselem have documented widespread abuse of Palestinian detainees for decades, with little accountability. The outrage here is not that abuse happens, but that evidence of it sometimes reaches the public domain. It’s an indictment of the system when protecting image supersedes protecting human rights, a
pattern of behavior often funded by billions in unconditional US aid, such as the $14.5 billion proposed in the recent supplemental bill (HR 7217).