Senior policeman arrested on suspicion of sexual assault

A senior police official was arrested early Monday morning in an investigation into sexual harassment, indecent assault and improper conduct.

The high-ranking officer, reportedly a one-time contender for police commissioner, is suspected of sexually harassing and assaulting a policewoman, as well as having improper relationships with several female subordinates.

Furthermore, the official was suspected of obstruction of justice, with investigators believing he may have deleted incriminating text messages from his mobile phone after being summoned for questioning.

The man was questioned by internal investigators in the early morning hours and released to house arrest for five days.

“The officer was questioned over suspicions that in recent months he used his position of authority to sexually harass a low-ranking policewoman who was in need of his assistance, including (one case of) indecent assault against her,” a police statement said.

Officials were looking into information that the officer may have also had improper relationships, consensual or otherwise, with six or seven other junior policewomen. Some of the women have already been summoned to give testimony.

Police said the allegations came to light after the woman at the center of the case told another officer of her experience, and he then reported the allegations to police’s internal affairs unit.

He was the sixth police major-general — the highest rank in the force after the commissioner — to be investigated in recent years, Israel Radio noted.

Last Saturday, Judea and Samaria District Commander Kobi Cohen announced his resignation after admitting to an improper relationship with a subordinate officer.

Cohen quit after being questioned over suspicions that he had maintained romantic ties with a low-ranking female officer and had made decisions regarding her positions that were based on a conflict of interest.

He joined an increasingly long line of top police officials who recently left the force under troubling circumstances: former Jerusalem district police chief Nissim Shaham who was dismissed in late 2013 over allegations of sexual harassment, breach of trust, fraud and indecent acts; top anti-corruption police official Menashe Arviv who resigned in 2014 amid allegations that he received thousands of dollars and other assistance from a rabbi accused of corruption; and central district chief Bruno Stein who resigned after he was spotted at a party thrown by Ronel Fisher, an Israeli attorney under investigation for allegedly bribing multiple police officials.