5 IDF officers to face pre-indictment hearings over soldier’s drowning in exercise

Five IDF officers are summoned for a hearing before charges are pressed against them over their failure to prevent the drowning of a soldier in a swollen stream in northern Israel during a navigation exercise in January, the army says.

The decision was made as part of an investigation into the drowning of Sgt. Evyatar Yosefi, 20, which has found a series of significant failures throughout the chain of command that the military says were the ultimate cause of the serviceman’s death.

The five officers — the soldier’s team leader, a lieutenant, his deputy platoon commander, a lieutenant, his platoon commander, a captain, the commander of his training program, a major, and his battalion commander, a lieutenant colonel — were all dismissed from their positions in March. The commander of the Paratroopers Brigade, Col. Yaakov “Yaki” Dolef, also received an official censure on his record, the military said at the time.

The IDF says that after the hearings it will be decided whether the officers will be charged and if so, on what offense.

The military adds lessons have been learned from the incident and integrated into its current conduct.