Ambiguous footage and prisoner’s release result in dropped charges for Israeli soldiers

The identity of the Palestinian in the video was never released, but he was sent to Gaza on October 13 during a ceasefire with Hamas.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israel’s chief military advocate, Maj. Gen. Itai Ofir, announced on Thursday the cancellation of the indictment against five Israeli reservists in the so-called Sde Teiman affair.

The soldiers were previously accused of beating a Palestinian detainee from Gaza at the Sde Teiman detention facility in the Negev in an incident captured in a controversial video.

Maj. Gen. Ofir cited “significant developments” since the indictment was filed, including the complexity of the evidence and the detainee’s release to Gaza as part of a hostage deal.

“In the complex evidentiary circumstances of the case and in the absence of certainty regarding the ability to testify and cross-examine the security detainee, there is also a violation of the defendants’ possibility of a fair trial,” he said.

Ofir added that the footage did not conclusively show serious violence, saying, “The video alone… does not clearly and irrefutably present serious acts of violence at the level required for a criminal conviction.”

The identity of the Palestinian in the video was never released, but he was sent to Gaza on October 13 during a ceasefire with Hamas.

The video was leaked to the Israeli media on July 24.

The controversy exploded on November 25 when the then-military advocate general, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi ,was revealed to be the source of the leak.

She attempted suicide before being arrested.