Army major arrested on suspicion of raping, abusing female soldier

An IDF officer with the rank of major has been arrested on suspicion of raping a female soldier, the military said Friday.

The man, detained on Thursday, is suspected of rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and of driving under the influence.

The rape is alleged to have taken place about 10 months ago.

Other details of the case are currently under a gag order.

A military court in Jaffa on Thursday extended the officer’s remand until Tuesday.

Last week two navy officers resigned from their posts following a television exposé alleging sexual harassment and improper sexual relationships with subordinates by a senior officer, Brig. Gen. Shai Elbaz, when he served as head of the navy’s elite Shayetet 13 commando unit.

Elbaz and a second officer tied to the case resigned from the military over the Channel 12 report.

The allegations against Elbaz came two years after Ofek Buchris, formerly a brigadier general, pleaded guilty to three counts of maintaining prohibited sexual relationships as part of a deal in exchange for having far more serious charges dropped.

Buchris, a former head of the Golani infantry brigade who was seen as a rising star in the IDF, had been accused of rape and sexual assault by two female officers who served under him.

He denied the accusations at first, but later took public responsibility for unspecified sexual offenses and an illegal sexual relationship as part of the plea deal. The prosecution agreed not to seek jail time as part of the bargain.

In September a non-commissioned officer in a combat battalion was convicted of raping a female subordinate. Eran Israel was found guilty on 15 counts, among them rape, sodomy and committing indecent acts.