IDF officer in Civil Administration facing corruption charges
Second time in two months that official in department overseeing activity in West Bank is accused of graft
An IDF officer in the Civil Administration, which oversees Israeli civilian activity in the West Bank, is accused of accepting bribes and other criminal offenses, according to details that emerged Monday after a gag order on the case was partially lifted.
Military judge Lieutenant-Colonel Orli Markman confirmed that an investigation into the officer was underway, but declined to provide details of the alleged charges or about the probe itself, the Ynet news website reported.
The Jaffa Military Court’s partial lifting of the gag order comes after the Ynet petitioned the court to have the details of the case released.
Representing the website, attorney Shira Brik-Haimovich argued there was no justification for the army keeping the details hidden from the public, especially given that the investigation is in an advanced stage.
Military prosecutors requested that the case remain under gag order, and said army officials were reviewing the details of the investigation to determine if they posed a threat to national security.
“At the time of the officer’s arrest, the unit’s senior commanders met and strongly expressed condemnation of the allegations, which are inconsistent with the values of the IDF and the unit,” military officials told Ynet.
Last month, the same court convicted another IDF officer of a variety of criminal offenses, including accepting NIS 25,000 ($64,000) in bribes, forging documents harmful to national security and helping Palestinians to enter Israel illegally.
Maj. Yosef Yazid, also an officer in the Civil Administration, was sentenced to five years in prison, fined NIS 30,000 ($7,000) and demoted to the rank of private.
