http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3779821,00.html IDF to admit old tradition of soldier abuse
Ynet learns Northern Command's court to be presented Tuesday with plea bargain between Chief Military Advocacy, defense counsels of two soldiers accused of abusing young troops. Army to accept claim that 'humiliation ceremonies' were customary for many years; soldiers to receive relatively minor punishments
Hanan Greenberg
Published: 09.21.09, 20:12 / Israel News
The Chief Military Advocacy and the defense counsels of two soldiers accused of abusing young troops in the Armored Corps have reached a plea bargain which will be brought to the approval of the Northern Command's court on Tuesday, Ynet has learned.
As part of the deal, the Israel Defense Forces admits for the first time, that the abuse affair revealed in the Armored Corps' 74th Battalion is an old tradition, and therefore the punishments given to the soldiers involved in the affair would be significantly reduced.
In an internal discussion held Monday morning between representatives of the Chief Military Advocacy and representatives of the accused troops, the sides also decided to recommend the establishment of a committee which would look into the matter in the IDF on a permanent basis.
The agreement was reached with the representatives of the main suspects in the affair: Staff Sergeant On Blumenson and Sergeant Shahar Nitzan.
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During Monday's discussion, the defense counsels claimed that the incident which led to the investigation was not random, but part of an old tradition in the battalion, which many commanders were part of.
They also claimed that the commanders who carried out the violent acts suffered the same humiliation themselves as young soldiers, and that the victims were aware of the fact that this was part of the battalion's folklore and nothing more.
This claim, which was rejected by the Military Advocacy's representatives in the past, led this time to a substantial change when a decision was made following material presented by the lawyers of Staff Sergeant Blumenson. The material reveals that violent ceremonies have been taking place in the battalion for years, and that junior commanders who were promoted in recent years were aware of the matter.
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