Israeli army colonel arrested on charges he repeatedly raped female soldier

Christians Against Zionism - February 2005


JERUSALEM (AP) - The Israeli army has arrested a colonel on suspicion he repeatedly raped a female soldier under his command, the highest-ranking officer to be detained in such a case, military officials said Tuesday.

The case trained the spotlight on the military's policy toward sexual misconduct. The case was widely debated on Israeli radio talk shows Tuesday, with several women coming forward with accounts of sexual harassment and assault during their mandatory two-year army service.

In recent years, the army has tried to clamp down on sexual offences and dispel the notion that officers could use their rank to intimidate and exploit teenage girls under their command.

The accuser of the colonel is a 20-year-old woman who completed her military service several months ago. She told the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot that the colonel raped her repeatedly during her time in the military. She said she was assaulted in his office, his car, a Tel Aviv hotel and once at her parents' house, with the colonel using his "rank, his authority, his power" to scare her into silence.

"For several months, he systematically raped me. . . . The more I opposed, the more violent he became," she told Yediot.

Three months ago, another soldier filed a similar complaint against the colonel, military officials said.

The colonel denied the accusations through his lawyer. His driver supported the officer's story, according to Yediot.

Israeli Media reported that the colonel was to undergo a lie detector test Tuesday, and that the military prosecutor was to request he remain jailed until the end of the trial.

Israeli women are required at age 18 to do two years of military service. Sex scandals in the army, from harassment to rape, have made headlines in the past.

In one of the most highly publicized cases, former defence minister Yitzhak Mordechai - a former general and once a rising star in Israeli politics - was convicted of sexually assaulting two female subordinates.

In 2001, Mordechai was given a suspended sentence in a decision denounced as "scandalous" by women's rights activists, who said it sent a "murky" message about sexual abuse.

In 1999, in what was hailed as a breakthrough for women's rights in the army, the Israeli Supreme Court blocked the promotion of a top general convicted of sexual misconduct. The ruling was precedent-setting because the court rejected the army's argument that it was necessary to promote Brig.-Gen. Nir Galili for security reasons.