An IDF court on Thursday sentenced a reservist who abused Palestinian detainees in Sde Teiman after their capture from the Gaza Strip to seven months imprisonment, in the first major jail term handed down to a soldier relating to the war.
Given that the defendant-soldier spent around 80 days in prison after he was first arrested, he will now return to prison for around four and a half months.
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) called the sentence woefully inadequate for deterring such future conduct.
Pressed by The Jerusalem Post about what length of prison time would have been adequate, PCATI responded that it was clear that such a short prison term would not prevent future detainee abuse.
The Post also sought to understand why the military prosecution agreed to such a short sentence.
The prosecution reportedly did view the beatings as grave because they happened so many times and to so many different detainees, despite other soldiers telling the defendant to stop.
However, the prosecution also gave credit to the defendant for confessing his crimes up front and agreeing to a plea deal – saving it and the courts time, resources, and the need to prove many points at trial.
Defendant traumatized
The prosecution and the court took into account that the defendant and his family experienced some of the horrors of October 7, 2023, up close, which left the defendant traumatized and added more nuance to the situation.
As well as the prison sentence, the defendant was given potential additional prison time if he violated certain laws and was demoted to the rank of private.
The larger, main Sde Teiman abuse case involves several defendants, at least one of whom has been discussed as potentially being charged with sexual assault.
Pre-indictment hearings were held on this case in November. Sources confirmed to the Post that final decisions about whether to indict and on what charges may be issued soon by Military Advocate General Maj.-Gen. Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi.
Sources denied there being delays in deciding that case, which dates back to the summer, due to fears of political fallout from the right-wing coalition government. At the time, several coalition members broke into the facility when authorities showed up to arrest the suspects, along with a mob.
In this secondary abuse case, the soldier admitted to his actions and cut a plea deal regarding repeatedly punching detainees and hitting them with his weapons while they were bound and blindfolded. On June 5 alone, he beat two different detainees 15 times.
The military noted that the defendant beat the detainees despite other soldiers nearby calling on him to stop. In fact, the soldier even recorded some of his beatings on his cell phone.
“The actions of the accused are severe and grave, and IDF soldiers are obligated to use the power entrusted to them in accordance with IDF values and orders at all times – especially in times of war,” stated the military. An investigation was initially opened in July.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.