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Sex offenses in Israeli military jumped by 40% in 2014

The photo shows Israeli female soldiers at a checkpoint near the Egyptian border, August 19, 2011. © AFP

Israel’s military officials have admitted that sex offenses in the regime’s army increased by 40 percent in 2014.

On Friday, the chief prosecutor of the Israeli army, Udi Ben Eliezer, said that 37 Israeli officers and soldiers were indicted for sex offenses in 2014, showing a 40-percent jump in comparison with the previous year.

He added that most of the sexual harassment cases were perpetrated by military officials against their subordinates.

One of the indictments concerned an Israeli commander who pressured his female subordinates into sexual relationships “while utilizing his authority over them as their direct commander,” Eliezer confessed.

He also lashed out at the high-ranking officials of the regime’s military for turning a blind eye to the frequent sex offenses committed under their command.

“I expect commanders not to keep it to themselves but to come forward and report it. Sometimes we discover that there were large groups of people who knew of an abusive person for a long time, and no one was surprised when an investigation was opened. Commanders must not stand idly by and let these things happen,” he stated.

The issue of sexual misconduct in the Israeli army has given rise to heated debates over the past years.

In 2014, it was revealed that the senior officials of the Israeli military covered up a sexual scandal in which six soldiers were harassed in Givati Brigade. The reports also said that the criminal case was not reported to the regime’s judiciary and that the offender had just been transferred to another unit.

FNR/MKA/HMV


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