Israeli Border Police Officer Indicted for Assault and Sexual Harassment During Initiation Ceremony

The Police Investigations Department filed charges on Wednesday against a Border Police officer accused of assaulting and sexually harassing a female Border Police colleague under the pretext of an initiation ceremony. The indictment states that the accused, a squad commander in the West Bank, brought the female officer, who had enlisted a few months after him, to a club building at their base near Jerusalem. There, he ordered her to turn her back and place her hands on a refrigerator. When she answered his questions incorrectly, he struck her about 15 times in the ribs with his fists. He then commanded her to remove her coat and face him, continuing to hit her in the abdomen and pull her hair. At one point, he sat with his legs apart, forcibly pulled her face toward his genitals without her consent, and grabbed her hair. The victim managed to break free and stand up in shock. The indictment, submitted to the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court, charges the officer with assault and indecent acts. This case follows other recent reports of abuse and humiliation within the Israeli Air Force and police forces.