Cop found guilty of sexual harassment to be promoted

A senior Israel Police officer who was found guilty of sexually harassing two of his subordinates is reportedly set to be promoted to the force’s representative in the US.

Ilan Mor, a commander of the police’s traffic division, will be appointed to the position by Police Commissioner Roni Alscheich, Haaretz reported Sunday.

Mor reached a plea bargain with a police disciplinary board in 2013 for two complaints of sexual harassment by subordinates. He got off with a NIS 4,000 ($264) fine and a warning, and was not forced out of the police, according to the report.

The commander was convicted on two counts of harassment, including for attempting to kiss a junior officer against her will in 2012. After reaching the plea deal, he spent a year at a police academy and was later appointed chief of the traffic division.

Ilan Mor (right) with former public security minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch (YouTube screenshot)

The past few years have seen a string of sexual misconduct cases involving top police officers, many of whom were forced to retire due to the allegations against them. In all, about half of the Israel Police’s major generals — the highest rank below that of the police commissioner — have been accused of such abuse, and many of them have stepped down.

In December 2015, Alsheich announced that a senior police officer accused of sexual harassment would be reinstated in his position as head of the force’s anti-corruption unit and no disciplinary action will be taken against him.

Police said in a statement that the commissioner made the decision to reinstall Maj. Gen. Roni Rittman as commander of Lahav 433 “after a broad and thorough discussion, in the framework of which he was presented with recommendations of the disciplinary department of the human resources department and the recommendations of the police legal adviser.”

“There are no real grounds for any administrative or even disciplinary measures, even if the statute of limitations weren’t applicable, and Rittman will therefore remain in his post,” Aschleich said.