Court extends detention of former IDF legal chief amid frantic searches for Tomer-Yerushalmi’s lost phone

A court extended the detention of former IDF Military Advocate General (MAG) Maj.-Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi and her suspected co-conspirator, former chief prosecutor Col. Matan Solomosh, after the dramatic events of Sunday evening.

Both of their arrests will be extended until Wednesday, after police requested an extension of five days, as they suspected they would attempt to obstruct the investigation of the former MAG’s leak of a video allegedly showing IDF soldiers severely abusing a Palestinian prisoner at a detention facility.

Tomer-Yerushalmi was not questioned on Monday due to her condition, police said, adding she would undergo “intensive” questioning starting Tuesday.

Tomer-Yerushalmi, the highest-ranking IDF officer ever to be arrested, admitted she had ordered the leak before resigning last Friday.

On Sunday, she allegedly faked a suicide attempt with the apparent goal of providing herself an excuse to “lose” her phone, which could contain incriminating information, in the sea.

She reportedly faces potential charges including fraud, breach of trust, abuse of her office, obstruction of justice, and unlawful disclosure of material.

The police representative said that Solomosh is suspected of knowing that Tomer-Yerushalmi was behind the leak and tried to help her in the cover-up.

Police told the court that three other suspects are currently being investigated, and two other suspects have given testimonies about the affair.

After the former MAG’s arrest, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir reportedly ordered that she be placed under special supervision “so that she cannot disrupt the investigation” and to ensure her well-being after the possible suicide attempt.

צוללנים של המשטרה ממשיכים לחפש את הטלפון הנייד של הפצ"רית. חפ"ק המרכז את החיפושים הוקם בחוף הצוק@YoavBorowitz pic.twitter.com/MOJWgaTrOa

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 4, 2025

This will reportedly include additional guards and cameras in her cell.

Meanwhile, authorities as well as citizens have launched a large-scale search for Tomer-Yerushalmi’s “lost” phone at Tel Aviv’s Hof Hatzuk Beach, where she was found after the fake suicide attempt.

According to Channel 12, an unnamed security agency asked the emergency response group ZAKA to assist in the search with divers.

The Jerusalem Post talked to Eitan Nahum, an importer and distributor of metal detectors, who took part in the search alongside dozens of other civilians.

Nahum said several members of his community of over than 4,000 metal detector enthusiasts came to help. 

“We’re doing this from the heart. What was done to those soldiers feels as if it was done to my own child,” he said, adding, “I was very angry when I heard about the leak. When you think about integrity, it teaches you not to be naive.”

Tomer-Yerushalmi’s leak of the video came after nine IDF soldiers were arrested under suspicion of having taken part in the abuse of the prisoner. Ultimately, five of them were indicted, though “only” for violent abuse rather than alleged rape or sexual abuse.

On Monday, attorneys for several of the suspects said they had just been informed that the alleged victim, a suspected Hamas member, was sent back to Gaza under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal last month.

“We have just received the notice that the terrorist is no longer held in an Israeli prison. We therefore call upon the IDF Military Prosecutor’s Office to immediately cancel the indictment,” the attorneys stated.

“From day one, we told the military court that if the terrorist would be brought to testify, the case would collapse,” they said. “It is time to release the soldiers from the heavy burden that has weighed on their shoulders and allow them to return to anonymity and normal life.”

Some of the suspects’ lawyers had already demanded to drop the charges after Tomer-Yerushalmi’s confession last week.