Jerusalem, 12 March, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement in praise of the decision announced Thursday by Israel’s Chief Military Advocate, Maj. Gen. Itai Ofir, to rescind the indictment against five Israeli reservists in the so-called Sd Teiman (Yemen Field) affair. Netanyahu called the whole affair a “blood libel.”
The soldiers were accused of beating a Palestinian detainee from Gaza at the Sde Teiman military detention facility in the Negev.
Netanyahu said, “The blood libel known as the Sdei Teiman Affair,” which he alleged “slandered Israel in the world in an unprecedented way,” has now come to an end and that it was, “unacceptable that it took so long to close the case that was criminally handled against IDF (Israel Defense Forces) fighters who are facing the worst of our enemies.”
“The State of Israel must pursue its enemies, not its heroic warriors,” he added.