Commander of co-ed IDF unit suspended for suspected relationship with subordinate

The commander of the mixed-gender Caracal Battalion was suspended for 30 days beginning Tuesday amid allegations that he maintained an illicit, but consensual relationship with a subordinate officer.

The decision to suspend Lt. Col. Elad Cohen was made by head of the IDF Southern Command Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the army said.

Cohen is being investigated by IDF Military Police on that suspicion that he had a sexual relationship with a subordinate officer, which is forbidden in the IDF.

The lieutenant colonel has been commander of the co-ed battalion since 2015. The unit, which was formed in 2004, is tasked with guarding the border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Cohen was due to leave his position in the coming weeks, regardless of the investigation. Military sources said it was not a factor in his suspension.

The Caracal Battalion has been guarding the Egyptian border since 2007. In 2015, a second mixed-gender battalion, the Lions of the Jordan, took up positions along the Jordan Valley. A third co-ed battalion, known as Cheetah, or Bardelas, was created in 2015 and guards the borders of the Arava Desert in southern Israel.

A fourth mixed-gender battalion, the Lions of the Valley, was formed earlier this year and has yet to be fully deployed.

The mixed-gender units are approximately 65 percent female and 35 percent male.