IDF harassment probe focuses on what commanders knew

An IDF investigation into sexual harassment allegations against the commander of an infantry battalion expanded on Thursday as investigators questioned the officer’s commander, Col. Ofer Winter of the Givati Brigade, over what he knew of the complaints.

Military Police investigators are examining whether Winter had fulfilled his responsibility to report to military authorities the complaints against his accused underling, Lt. Col. Liran Hajbi, commander of Givati’s Tzabar battalion.

The investigation is still in its preliminary stages, say IDF officials, and there are no material suspicions related to Winter’s conduct. Winter “fully cooperated” with the investigation, the army said.

Hajbi has been the subject of an undercover Military Police investigation for a number of weeks into a complaint by a female soldier that he had sexually harassed her. Hajbi has denied the accusations vehemently, but took a leave of absence from his post when the investigation became public this week, “so that the battalion won’t be affected by this,” he reportedly told his associates.

Hajbi’s attorney, IDF chief defense counsel Col. Asher Halperin, said Wednesday that Hajbi insists on his innocence and has asked for a lie-detector test and a chance to confront his accuser.

But when news of the harassment investigation first became public on Wednesday, soldiers in the battalion began to voice other complaints related to Hajbi’s command of the battalion, including accusations that Hajbi’s deputy was removed from his post after he attempted to notify Winter and OC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman of the complaints.

The accusations against Hajbi have drawn the attention of the IDF’s top brass, and the affair resulted in calls for soul-searching by Israeli media pundits and other figures over the past two days.

At a General Staff meeting Thursday, “the chief of staff [Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz] emphasized that he gives utmost importance to the unblemished ethical behavior demanded of every officer in the IDF,” army spokesman Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz said Thursday. “This is certainly true of our senior command. This issue will be at the top of [Gantz’s] agenda until the matter is clarified and the necessary investigations are completed.”

After spending several hours Thursday with Military Police investigators, Winter was summoned by Turgeman for a “clarifying conversation,” a senior IDF source told Channel 2.

Turgeman voiced concerns over the operational readiness of the Tzabar battalion while its commander was on leave.

According to unconfirmed media leaks citing officials in the IDF prosecution, investigators do not believe Winter covered up the complaints. But some senior officers are voicing concerns over the command culture in the elite infantry brigade.

“A brigade commander is supposed to know what’s happening in his battalions,” a senior IDF officer told Channel 2.

Even if Winter did not know of the complaints, the officer insisted, he held command responsibility for the situation in the battalion. “There’s a disciplinary issue here.”