By: Andrew Carlson

In a rare and emotionally charged statement released Sunday night, soldiers from the elite Israel Defense Forces unit known as Force 100 broke their silence following the resignation of Military Advocate-General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi — the legal chief whose tenure was engulfed in one of the most damaging scandals in the history of the IDF.

The soldiers, their identities concealed behind masks for operational security, addressed what they described as a “war for justice,” declaring that their fight now continues not in the field of battle, but in the courtroom.

“We are fighting for our unit not on the battlefield, but in a court,” one of the masked servicemen said in a recorded statement obtained by Israel Live News. “We will not back down from the summary justice decreed upon us by the world.”

Their statement — powerful, defiant, and heavy with the weight of betrayal — came just hours after Maj. Gen. Tomer-Yerushalmi announced her resignation, acknowledging that she had approved the leak of investigative evidence to the press in an attempt, she said, “to confront false propaganda.”

Her admission has shaken the upper ranks of Israel’s defense establishment and ignited fierce debate over the balance between accountability and loyalty within the military justice system.

As reported by Israel Live News, the controversy began last year with explosive allegations that members of Force 100, an elite counterterrorism unit operating in Gaza, had sexually assaulted a captured Hamas Nukhba terrorist. Several soldiers were arrested as part of an internal investigation — a development that immediately polarized Israeli society and drew sharp condemnation abroad.

Within weeks, a graphic video purportedly showing the alleged assault surfaced in the possession of journalist Guy Peleg of Channel 12, who aired excerpts during a prime-time report. The footage spread rapidly across global media networks, accompanied by accusations of systematic abuse by the IDF and calls for international investigations.

According to sources cited by Israel Live News, the clip was described by some as a “war crimes dossier,” appearing within hours in United Nations human rights briefings and on the websites of anti-Israel NGOs. The imagery — later revealed to be misleading — was amplified by hostile influencers and foreign media outlets eager to portray the IDF as brutal and lawless.

The consequences were immediate and severe. Israeli officials described the incident to Israel Live News as a “modern blood libel,” warning that the narrative had “done irreparable harm to Israel’s international standing.”

But as the dust settled, forensic analysis told a very different story.

An extensive military investigation — corroborated by Israel’s Military Police, intelligence units, and digital forensics experts — concluded that the viral footage was heavily edited and manipulated. The soldiers shown in the video were not engaging in sexual assault, and no physical evidence supported the rape claims.

As Israel Live News later confirmed through official IDF sources, the final indictment against the soldiers contained no rape charges whatsoever.

Instead, investigators discovered that the clip had been leaked and doctored, its context distorted to feed a narrative of Israeli atrocities. Intelligence officials traced the dissemination pattern and found that the video’s earliest international amplifiers were accounts linked to known pro-Hamas networks.

One senior IDF analyst told Israel Live News that “the effect was catastrophic — a fabrication designed to inflame global opinion, delegitimize the IDF, and stain Israel’s moral standing.”

In her resignation letter, Maj. Gen. Tomer-Yerushalmi acknowledged authorizing the release of sensitive evidence to the media, claiming her intent was to “counter false narratives” spreading about the case. Her statement, however, amounted to a de facto admission of breaching internal security protocols.

The disclosure — a violation of strict IDF confidentiality rules — unleashed a storm across Israel’s military and political circles. Critics accused her of undermining Israel’s judicial integrity, while others argued she had been made a scapegoat amid mounting political pressure.

As the Israel Live News report noted, her resignation followed mounting calls from within the Defense Ministry for accountability over the leak, which had “compromised ongoing investigations and endangered Israel’s international credibility.”

“Maj. Gen. Tomer-Yerushalmi’s decision to leak materials, even with good intentions, set a precedent that cannot be ignored,” one senior defense source told Israel Live News. “It eroded the IDF’s internal trust and handed our enemies a propaganda victory.”

For the soldiers of Force 100, the resignation is not vindication — but rather a painful reminder of how quickly they were condemned before the truth emerged.

“We were branded as monsters,” said one of the unit’s members in the video statement, shared with Israel Live News. “Our names were dragged through the mud by people who never waited for the facts. We fought for Israel, and now we must fight for our honor.”

Their comments reflect the growing sentiment among Israel’s combat units that the IDF’s legal and political leadership has become overly susceptible to international pressure, particularly from foreign NGOs and media outlets hostile to the Jewish state.

As one veteran IDF officer told Israel Live News, “These soldiers risked their lives to defend Israel after October 7. Then they were thrown to the wolves of world opinion based on a fabricated video. It’s an unforgivable failure of leadership.”

The false narrative surrounding the Force 100 case ricocheted through the international press, becoming yet another weapon in the information war waged against Israel since the outbreak of hostilities in Gaza.

According to media analysts cited by Israel Live News, the episode exposed a dangerous vulnerability: Israel’s enemies have mastered the art of digital manipulation and disinformation, while much of the world’s media remains willing to publish unverified material when it aligns with anti-Israel biases.

“This was never about truth,” wrote one Israel Live News columnist. “It was about narrative warfare — about using Israel’s moral standards against her, and exploiting her commitment to transparency as a weakness.”

Even after the forensic findings debunked the rape allegations, major international outlets failed to correct their initial coverage. The damage “was already done — a stain on the IDF that no retraction can erase.”

In the wake of Maj. Gen. Tomer-Yerushalmi’s resignation, Israel’s military establishment faces an urgent challenge: restoring public trust in its judicial system and protecting soldiers from political and media exploitation.

On Sunday, it was originally reported that Tomer-Yerushalmi was missing and suspicions were raised about a possible suicide attempt. It was later reported by Israel News Live that police announced that Tomer-Yerushalmi has been located alive after an intense search on Hatsuk Beach.

The IDF’s legal corps is expected to undergo a major restructuring, with defense officials pledging to reinforce procedures governing evidence handling and media relations. As Israel Live News reported, Defense Minister Israel Katz has already instructed the IDF Chief of Staff to present new leadership candidates capable of “defending our soldiers as fiercely as they defend the nation.”

Meanwhile, the men of Force 100 remain on active duty — scarred by the ordeal, but resolute.

“We serve with pride and integrity,” one of them told Israel Live News. “We’ve faced Hamas in tunnels and in courtrooms. We will continue to fight — for our unit, for the truth, and for Israel.”

As the IDF and Israeli society grapple with the fallout of this scandal, one truth stands uncontested: a falsehood — amplified by the world’s hunger to vilify Israel — brought real harm to real soldiers.

For the men of Force 100, the battle has shifted from Gaza’s fields to the realm of perception. And as Israel Live News poignantly noted, “In the war for Israel’s honor, these soldiers now stand on the front lines — not with rifles, but with the truth.”