One month after the prosecution announced that it would not investigate the leak of a video that showed the alleged abuse of imprisoned terrorists at the Sde Teiman military base, the IDF on Wednesday announced the opening of a criminal investigation into the matter. The investigation will also look into the involvement of members of the Military Advocate's office.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit stated that "at this point, the Chief of Staff has approved leave for the Military Advocate General until further details on the matter are clarified."
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara published a statement which read: "Due to information that was recently received, the Attorney General's Office, at the discretion of the State Prosecutor and the Head of the Investigations and Intelligence Department at the Israel Police, has decided to instruct the opening of a criminal investigation into crimes associated with the publication of the video from the Sde Teiman affair."
"The investigation is being conducted by the Investigations and Intelligence Department at the Israel Police, with the assistance of the State Prosecutor's Office. Various investigative actions were conducted over the past day. The Supreme Court was updated regarding the investigation. At this point, since the investigation is ongoing, no additional information can be provided."
Minister of Defense Israel Katz stated: "IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir updated me that due to a criminal investigation into the leak of the footage from Sde Teiman, and the inquiry into the Military Advocate's office official's involvement in the case, it was decided that the Military Advocate General will take leave."
"I commend and support the decision. This is a severe affair that created a blood libel against IDF soldiers in Israel and around the world, and it must be examined and investigated thoroughly."
Later, the Minister added that "this was one of the worst blood libels against IDF soldiers, exposing them to persecution and prosecution around the world. The MAG will not return to her post while the affair is being investigated, and when it concludes, we will act in accordance with the conclusions."
As mentioned, only about a month ago, the Justice Ministry informed the Supreme Court that it did not intend to investigate the leak of the video. In its response, the ministry wrote that the video caused no harm to state security and did not expose classified information.
The document also stated that, with the approval of the Deputy State Prosecutor and various investigative authorities, it was decided that no further investigative actions could be taken to identify the source of the leak, and the inquiry into the matter has been concluded.
It should be noted that the video was used by anti-Israeli entities for propaganda purposes, claiming that its publication by Israeli media served as proof of the terrorist's allegations.
About two months ago, the trial began for members of Force 100, who were arrested on suspicion of assaulting the Nukhba terrorist. The circulated video was allegedly intended to prove their guilt.