New details that have emerged about the lie-detector test that exposed the Ex-Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi's involvement in the Sde Teiman affair paint a disturbing picture of deliberate, concerted conduct at the top of the Military Advocate General Corps.
The affair began when a senior officer underwent a routine polygraph test at the Shin Bet, as part of the promotion process. In response to the question: "Did you commit a crime?" the officer decided, at her initiative, to reveal to the interrogators that she was the one who leaked the video that was said to prove allegations of abuse of an imprisoned terrorist. She claimed that she did this under direct orders from the MAG.
The Shin Bet passed the information on to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and the police, who opened a criminal investigation.
Last Tuesday, the police carried out a ruse to obtain more information from the officer. One of the investigators called the officer, pretending to be someone else, and asked her to come collect something from a different office at the Kirya Base. When she arrived, she was detained and taken for questioning on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv.
During her initial interrogation, the officer only provided a partial testimony. Her mobile phone was seized, and she was released and prohibited from contacting those involved in the case.
Two days later, she contacted the police and asked to be interrogated again. This time, she revealed all the information to the interrogators.
According to her testimony, she was a member of an internal WhatsApp group that included seven senior MAG Corps officers, including Tomer-Yerushalmi. After the Sde Teiman affair came out, someone in the group wrote: "I hope this storm blows over." Later, someone criticized then-IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Spokesman Daniel Hagari: "They aren't defending us here."
The group discussed two possible actions: A silent press briefing without revealing the investigation materials or a targeted leak. Tomer-Yerushalmi rejected the first idea, claiming that "a briefing would not have the same effect." She added, "Now we take this into our own hands."
The video was leaked, and the group felt they had reached the desired effect. However, after a petition was submitted to the Supreme Court, the MAG ordered the opening of an internal investigation to find the one who leaked the video, and appointed her deputy, who was involved in the leak.