Outgoing Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was found Sunday night after an hourslong search along Tel Aviv’s Cliff Beach, police confirmed. Earlier in the day, her car had been found empty at the site, prompting an extensive search involving a police helicopter. Her attorney declined to comment.
Tomer-Yerushalmi, who stepped down as the Israel Defense Forces’ top military prosecutor last week, had been expected to be questioned in the coming days on suspicion of obstructing an investigation, leaking classified information and making a false affidavit.
Searches at Tel Aviv’s Cliff Beach
She was suspected of involvement in the leak of a video from the Sde Teiman Base in southern Israel and of covering up the subsequent probe. According to the allegations, Tomer-Yerushalmi misled two chiefs of staff, Israel’s High Court of Justice, defendants and the public.
Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week that Tomer-Yerushalmi had “deliberately lied” to him when he asked why the leak investigation had stalled.
On Friday, Tomer-Yerushalmi submitted her resignation to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, two days after being placed on leave. In her resignation letter, she admitted for the first time that she had approved the release of the video, saying it was meant “to counter false propaganda” directed at the Military Advocate General’s Office following an investigation into reserve soldiers, some of whom were later charged with abusing a detained Palestinian attacker.
In a conversation with Zamir, she took full responsibility for the leak. “As the head of the Military Advocate General’s Office, and out of a deep sense of responsibility toward the IDF, the unit and my subordinates, I approved the release of material to the media in an effort to counter false propaganda against military law enforcement authorities,” she wrote. “I take full responsibility for any material released to the media from within the unit. This same sense of responsibility has led me to step down as Military Advocate General.”
Tomer-Yerushalmi had held the post since 2021. In her letter, she effectively acknowledged that under her direction, the Military Advocate General’s Office conducted a superficial internal review after the leak, apparently to create the appearance of an investigation. An affidavit on the matter was later submitted to the High Court following a petition demanding a formal probe.
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday night that Zamir had instructed the Operations Directorate to use all available means to help locate Tomer-Yerushalmi “as quickly as possible.”