The Force 100 soldiers who were accused in the Sde Teiman affair and their lawyers from the Honenu legal aid organization held a press conference on Sunday for the first time since the exposure of Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi as the culprit in the leak.

Attorney Adi Keidar spoke first and demanded that the indictments against his clients be dropped. “A turning point occurred in Israel last year—the biggest deception ever uncovered in the history of the Prosecutor’s Office, the Chief Military Prosecutor, and perhaps in the entire history of judicial proceedings,” he began.

“We’ve accompanied the soldiers from day one. We witnessed a flawed, biased, and entirely fabricated legal process. The claim of sexual assault against the terrorist was completely baseless and caused the defamation of the soldiers, their name, and the entire IDF. ”

Attorney Menashe Yado, who filed a defamation suit on behalf of the soldiers against Channel 12 News, said, “We filed a lawsuit against Guy Peleg and Channel 12. Peleg lied to the public and claimed the video showed a clear criminal act—how could he say such a thing? These men were wronged in a way that cannot be measured. We’ve reached the point of closure—closing the criminal case and naming the former Military Advocate General as a personal defendant in the civil suit. I hope this leads to real reform and a cleansing of the system.”

Attorney Moshe Polsky added, “In every proceeding, one assumes that the prosecutor acts according to the law. But this entire case was tainted from the start. The leak poisoned both public and judicial perception. The most important tool for any prosecutor is judgment—and throughout this affair, from the arrests to the interrogations and overall conduct, the military prosecution has shown none. There is no way to continue this process fairly—it must be reexamined.”

One soldier spoke, saying, “I’m standing here today because we’re tired of staying silent. We didn’t ask for praise—we only wanted justice. On October 7, we went out without hesitation. We knew we had a country to defend; we didn’t ask for credit. Instead of an embrace, we got accusations. Instead of gratitude, we got silence. You didn’t let us respond or explain; you held a kangaroo court in front of the cameras and already decided who was guilty. We won’t stay silent. We’ll keep fighting for justice, for our families. We didn’t ask for mercy or forgiveness—only for justice.”

Hila, the wife of one of the Unit 100 soldiers, said, “The country my husband fought for spat in his face. Instead of embracing him, it turned him into a defendant. Instead of justice, there was a smear campaign. An entire system—the Military Advocate General, the prosecution, investigators, spokespeople—they all cooperated. They knew there was no case, no evidence, but they were afraid. Instead of seeking justice, they looked for someone to blame. They found the soldiers—those who don’t know how to lie.”

“I’m angry and furious because I saw my husband torn apart—not in battle against an enemy, but against his own country. I saw investigators lie about decisions that had been written in advance. The Military Advocate General led a one-sided process meant only to protect herself. What kind of justice is that?”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)