Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on October 20, 2021

An officer in the governmental body that oversees Israel's civilian policy in the West Bank was convicted in 2016 of raping a Palestinian woman and receiving a bribe of a sexual nature, the military's appeals court cleared for publication on Wednesday.

The officer was convicted on two counts of rape of a Palestinian woman who had requested a permit to enter and work in Israel. He was also convicted of receiving a bribe and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was also demoted and dismissed from the military.

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The officer was also convicted for sexual harassment and security offenses. A gag order was imposed on most of the details of the investigation, and details of the case were cleared for publication after a request by the Ynet news site.

The woman, identified in court only as M., said the officer took advantage of her request for a permit to force her to have sex with him. The officer told her that he liked her and began trying to have sex with her. M. expressed her refusal, but the defendant asked her to keep quiet, the court said. Later, he threatened that he would revoke her permit if she reported the rape. The court also convicted him of another count of rape, which also involved threats, the judges said in their ruling. He returned her permit, which he had taken earlier, told her it was valid and made it clear to her that she must continue to come and see him. She did not return.

The officer would sometimes call M. with requests of a sexual nature, and make various sexual advances, the court said. He also asked her to bring her daughter to him. In its verdict, the military court said M. showed by her behavior that she did not consent to having sexual contact with him, and the inequality in power between them and her dependence on the officer should be seen as coercion. Furthermore, he was aware that she had not consented, ruled the judges.

The military appeals court called it one of the most serious affairs that have been brought before the military courts in its ruling denying the officers appeal. The court also said the case had aspects that could have affected national security. "In his corrupt actions, the appellant exploited his military position in order to carry out personal desires in criminal ways and his actions disgraced and shamed the military, the court said.

The crimes occurred in 2013 and 2014, and the officer's identity is still under a gag order. The court said it was proper to release the new information now because the affair had serious aspects, and everyone agrees that there is a significant public interest in publishing the details to the general public.

The officer was also convicted of receiving bribes from another woman, identified as F. The verdict said he had sexually exploited her three times in return for approving permits. He also ignored the issue of consent in this case, ruled the appeals court.

The officer was also convicted of sexual harassment over conversations he held with a man and a woman, identified as H. and A., respectively. In addition, he was found guilty of exceeding his authority to the point of harming national security because of relations with two women from Jenin. In that case, he was convicted for receiving secret intelligence information in 2015 and telling the two women about it three days later.

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Cleared for publication: Israeli officer convicted in 2016 of raping Palestinian woman - Haaretz

Category: Israel
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