Masked, wearing black shirts: The defendants in the Yemen field affair spoke for the first time in front of the cameras."The soldiers here will carry a torch," said one of the defense attorneys. Corrupt insider exposes corruption: If she's not promoted, don't expect an officer to say a bad word about his commander. Levin to the defense attorney:"The days when the lieutenant acquits the one in charge of him are over"

Gilad Cohen

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Itamar Eichner

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Liran Tamari

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting today (Sunday) at noon that the retired general, Major General

Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi

"She carried out the biggest propaganda attack ever." The reservist suspects in the case, members of"Force 100," held a press conference: "We didn't ask for fame - we asked for justice. We will win because there is only one truth," one of the defendants said for the first time.

3 Viewing the gallery

Netanyahu and MP Tomer-Yerushalmi (Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun, Sharon Tzur)

A., one of the accused reservists, also said that"on October 7th we left without thinking twice. We didn't ask for credit because we knew there was a country that needed to be defended. There are friends who fight in court, not on the battlefield. Instead of a hug, we received accusations - and you didn't let us respond. You held a court trial as if you had decided who was guilty. We will not remain silent. We will continue to fight. We only asked for justice. Maybe you tried to break us, but you forgot that we are a force of 100."

Hila, the wife of one of the fighters, said:"I am a woman, the wife of a proud fighter. I am a citizen of a country that broke my heart. My husband and his friends did not hesitate and left on October 7. Not right or left. Just love for the country, but this country spat in his face and turned him into a defendant. The entire system, the Ministry of Defense, the prosecutor's office and others, all cooperated. They knew there was no evidence. So instead of looking for justice, they looked for culprits.

"I am angry and furious because I saw my man torn apart from the inside. How investigators lie, how a country sacrifices fighters. The MP defended herself, not the truth, not justice - herself. What kind of justice is this? This is not a justice system. This is a system of fear. You will not succeed in silencing us. We will fight for the truth. My husband, I am proud of you, proud of your uniform. You and my brothers, the fighters of Force 100, are not alone. Justice will come home. There will be another earthquake soon."

The suspects in the case (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

Attorney Adi Kedar of the Honenu organization, which represents the members of"Force 100," said: "Citizens of Israel, last week the biggest fraud was uncovered. Unfortunately, we know that we witnessed a botched legal process. They defamed the fighters and their names. The same was true of the arrest that was publicized as if they were terrorists. Today, we demand justice. The least that remains for us as a reformed state is to immediately cancel the trial and bring those responsible to justice."

Attorney Moshe Polsky said,"The purpose of a legal process is to reach the truth. In this case, this process was tainted from the start. We sat in front of the military prosecutor and no one shares with us what is happening behind the scenes. There is no way to get justice for the fighters now. In its conduct throughout the entire incident, the military prosecutor's office proved that it has no discretion. This role was too much for the military prosecutor. There is no way to continue managing this process and everything must be reexamined."

Attorney Ephraim Damari added: "Take three hours from the minute the MP is being investigated, and within a short time senior officials will be investigated. The same officials who accompanied the investigation and accompanied the MP will be arrested because this is a very serious obstruction - making false statements to the Supreme Court." He said that "the soldiers will no longer light a torch on Independence Day. Anyone who harmed our soldiers will be behind bars."

Meanwhile, after yesterday Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told Justice Minister Yariv Levin that

His political interference in the investigation of the Yemeni field affair is unacceptable.

After asking to prohibit her from engaging in the investigation, Levin responded to her in the afternoon - rejecting her words."I received your letter in question, and I reject outright everything said in it," he wrote in a letter to her deputy, Attorney Gil Limon."The public no longer accepts your custom of making one law for yourself and another for everyone else. The days when the deputy acquits the one under his supervision are over. I will repeat my announcement from yesterday, according to which Attorney Baharav-Miara and all those subordinate to the legal counsel to the government are required to immediately cease all involvement in any matter related to the investigation of the Yemen Field affair and its affiliates, and from any involvement in the aforementioned investigation procedures."

Levin to the Attorney General: "The public no longer accepts your custom of applying one law to yourself and another to everyone else" (Photo: Rafi Kutz, Alex Kolomoisky, Yoav Dudekevich)

Netanyahu's remarks at the cabinet meeting are actually his first reference to the PM's resignation letter, in which she admitted that she approved"the release of material to the media" and effectively took full responsibility for the leak of the video."The incident in the Yemeni field caused enormous image damage to the State of Israel and the IDF, to our soldiers. This is perhaps the most severe propaganda attack that the State of Israel has experienced since its establishment. I don't remember an event that was targeted with such intensity. This requires an independent, impartial investigation, and I expect that one will also be carried out," Netanyahu said at the cabinet meeting.

Tomer-Yerushalmi claimed in her resignation letter that the leak was made against the backdrop of what she described as a"slander campaign" against members of the Military Prosecutor's Office, but did not explain the lies told to the High Court of Justice and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and the fictitious investigation conducted by the body she headed, with the aim of locating the source of the leak.

The officer who exposed the affair was detained at the military base where she served, and taken for questioning."She exposes corruption, but if she doesn't stay on her career path - don't expect an officer to stand up and say a bad word about his officer," said those around her."That's how it seems - when you cover up, everything goes away, when you don't cover up - you are interrogated."

The same officer was questioned again at her request, after she wanted to add more information. Her associates said she cooperated fully and handed over her cell phone – including the code. The MPA herself has not yet been questioned under caution.