The Israeli military’s top lawyer has resigned after saying that she was responsible for the leaking of a video that purportedly shows soldiers sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee last year.

Maj Gen Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, the military advocate general, had been on leave since a criminal investigation was launched by police earlier this week into how the surveillance video at the Sde Teiman detention facility was leaked.

“I approved the release of material to the media in an attempt to counter false propaganda against the army’s law enforcement authorities,” she said. That is a reference to efforts by some right-wing political figures in Israel to claim that the video and reports of abuse of detainees were fabricated.