IDF soldier demoted, jailed for two months for faking stabbing
Running late for court, soldier takes knife and slashes his arm, then tells police he was attacked by Arab
An IDF soldier who fabricated a stabbing attack to explain his tardiness has been demoted and will serve a two-month jail sentence, Channel 2 television reported on Tuesday.
The soldier, who was not named, was summoned to a hearing at the Jaffa military court last month for an unspecified infraction. After running late, the soldier panicked that he would be charged for his lateness, took a knife and slashed his own arm.
Upon arriving at the courthouse, police asked the bleeding soldier if he had been stabbed by an Arab and the soldier said that he had. As a result, a large number of security forces were dispatched to the area to investigate.
After a brief probe, police discovered that the soldier had lied about an attack and arrested him.
“This is a very serious case, the soldier must be [punished] to the full extent of the law for calling up troops and using resources during these tense times,” an army source told the TV station, referring to the wave of terror attacks on Israelis in the past two months.
The soldier was charged with conveying false information, according to the report.
He accepted a plea bargain, under which he confessed, was demoted to private and given the prison sentence. He will not, however, have a mark on his criminal record.