Israel’s top military lawyer arrested after she admitted leaking video of soldiers’ abuse

Police in Israel have arrested and detained the military’s top legal officer after she admitted leaking footage of soldiers allegedly attacking a Palestinian detainee and then in effect lying about her actions to Israel’s high court.

The military advocate general, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, said in a resignation letter last week that she had authorised publication of the video to defuse attacks on military investigators and prosecutors working on the case.

Rightwing politicians and pundits championed soldiers detained over the case as “heroes”, attacked military investigators as traitors, and called for the case against the soldiers to be dropped...