IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi relieves one officer of duty and orders four more formally censured for their roles in the suicide of a Military Police informant, following the completion of a months-long probe into the incident, the army says.
Last September, two former IDF Military Police officers were indicted for failing to properly report the mental health of one of their informants, Cpl. Niv Lubaton, a soldier in the Givati Infantry Brigade, who was later found dead outside his base in southern Israel.
A month later, Kohavi ordered a full investigation of both the incident itself and the methods used by the Military Police Investigatory Unit, commonly known by its Hebrew acronym Metzah, for recruiting informants, the results of which were presented to him in recent days, the military says.
“This is a most painful and saddening incident, and the Military Police Investigatory Unit must learn lessons and implement them immediately,” Kohavi says.
In light of the investigation into Lubaton’s death, the army chief orders the removal of the then-commander of the Military Police Investigatory Unit’s Beersheba station from the unit.
“The officer, who held the rank of major, was removed from Metzah, will not serve in positions of command and he will not be able to be promoted for six years in light of his command responsibility for the incidents,” the IDF says in a statement.
In addition, four other officers received official reprimands: the commander of the Military Police Investigatory Unit’s southern division and Lubaton’s three direct commanders in his squad leaders’ course for their failures during the searches for him after he went missing.
The military says the Military Police Investigatory Unit is also reviewing and updating its methods of recruiting informants.
— Judah Ari Gross
