Officer jailed, sergeant booted for hazing recruits in elite commando unit
A lieutenant tied a soldier to a flagpole and poured water and tahini on another in the prestigious Maglan Unit, which has been criticized in the past for unsafe training practices
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
A junior officer in an elite commando unit on Wednesday was sentenced to four weeks in military prison and a sergeant was removed from his position over hazing in the unit, the Israel Defense Forces said.
As part of an “initiation ritual,” the lieutenant — a team leader in the Maglan Unit — tied one young soldier to a flagpole and dumped water and tahini paste onto another. When other officers from the unit saw the hazing, they reportedly intervened and stopped it.
The lieutenant was immediately suspended from his position pending an investigation, the military said.
The elite Maglan Unit, part of the IDF Commando Brigade, has long been criticized for having a culture of dangerous training practices, including by the IDF high command, particularly after a soldier in the outfit was permanently injured, and remains confined to a wheelchair, after jumping from a moving car into bushes as part of a training exercise in 2018.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), the team leader was court-martialed before the head of the Commando Brigade and was convicted of conduct unbecoming of an officer for his actions. During the disciplinary hearing, he was sentenced to 28 days in prison. In addition, the commander of the [98th Division Brig. Gen. Yaron Finkleman] dismissed him from his position,” the IDF said.
A senior member of the unit who was at the scene — a staff sergeant — was also dismissed from his position for failing to intervene and prevent the hazing.
“The IDF rejects this kind of unacceptable conduct, will continue to work to drive out behavior like this, and will investigate events related to moral issues,” the military said in a statement.
The Times of Israel Community.