Navy officer to be jailed for 5.5 years for raping female comrade
Lieutenant Commander Aviv Sonego convicted after pleading not guilty to charges of rape during 2019 night out with unit; prosecutors sought an eight-year sentence
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
An Israeli Navy officer was sentenced by a military court on Tuesday to a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence for raping a female officer who served with him some four years ago, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The officer, Lieutenant Commander Aviv Sonego, was convicted after pleading not guilty to the rape charges. In addition to the five-and-a-half-year sentence, Sonego received a suspended sentence. He must also pay the victim NIS 40,000 ($11,500) and was demoted to the rank of seaman — the lowest rank, the naval equivalent of private.
The incident took place in early 2019, when Sonego and other officers from his unit went out for a night of bonding that ended at a hotel in Tel Aviv.
One of the participants, a female officer, was sleeping in her own bed at the hotel when Sonego allegedly raped her multiple times.
The victim filed a complaint in October 2021. After being arrested, Sonego was jailed on October 20, 2021. He was released to house arrest on December 30, 2021, during the trial.
Sonego was convicted of three counts of rape and one count of conduct unbecoming of a soldier.
His jail sentence is slated to begin on January 24. Military prosecutors are planning to appeal the five-and-a-half-year prison sentence, after having sought eight years.
The IDF said it views the case, and any incident of sex crimes in the army, “with severity.”
The military has been criticized for its handling of sexual assault allegations. In an ongoing case in military court, prosecutors nixed a plea deal signed with Lt. Col. Dan Sharoni, who had been accused of filming dozens of his female subordinates while nude without their knowledge. The deal, which originally included him potentially retaining his military pension, set off a firestorm of controversy about the case and about how the IDF handles sex crimes.
