Israeli soldiers who gang-raped Palestinian prisoner are now free to return to military service
Defence Minister Israel Katz (centre) meeting with the masked Sde Teiman rapists (16 March 2026)
Jonathan Ofir writes in Mondoweiss on 18 March 2026 :
On Monday, March 16, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz met with a group of Israeli soldiers and apologized to them for the “wrong that the system has done” to them, instructing the IDF to return them to immediate service.
The soldiers in question were the soldiers who gang-raped a Palestinian prisoner in Gaza. Just a week prior to Katz’s meeting with them, the soldiers had been cleared of all charges after the case against them was closed by the newly-appointed Israeli Chief Military Advocate (CMA), Maj. General Itay Ofir.
“Justice has been done and all this dark cloud has been removed from you and your family members… I commend the decision of the new CMA, who, in opposition to his predecessor, leads a policy of protecting the soldiers and not the terrorists”, Katz said on Monday. “I have instructed the security apparatus and the IDF to act so that you may return to service — as is fit and as you want, to contribute and be part of the great victory.”
Katz was just the latest Israeli politician to celebrate the accused rapists. Following the closing of the case last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a congratulatory statement:
**** ****
The gang rape was a scandal in Israel, because in August 2024, a video was leaked, showing the gang-rape from the CCTV camera at the most notorious torture camp, Sde Teiman, which is part of a whole network of torture camps, as documented by the Israeli B’tselem, in their report ‘Welcome to hell’, also from 2024. Gang-rape, including by the usage of dogs, is part of the systemic torture that these Palestinian hostages are forced to endure