If the police decide to open an investigation into the case, it may not mature into an indictment • Adv. Bombach: "If the players understood that they were immigrants - it would be a problem to prosecute them."

• Maccabi Tel Aviv fans at Bloomfield Stadium

  Photo: 

  Ami Shuman (Archive)

A complaint has not yet been filed against those involved - but police are investigating whether to open an investigation following the shaky exposure last Wednesday over football players who allegedly had sex with minors.

After the investigation opens, researchers will seek to understand the facts of the story and examine the key questions - who the people who took part in the incident, whether they had sex, and whether this was done with the full agreement of all involved.

Israeli law prohibits sex between an adult and a minor even if there is consent. The legal definition states that a minor is someone who is not yet 16 years of age.

"It is an offense even if the young women initiated the relationship," explains attorney Ilan Bombach. "This is also the case in the labor relations relationship, where even if the employee initiated the relationship with her boss or employer - he was not allowed to maintain the relationship."

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Adv. Bombach adds that "in terms of the dry law, up to the age of 14 each is defined as rape, and the sentence is up to 16 years in prison. From the age of 14 to the age of 16, if the young woman agrees then the definition is not of rape but of a prohibited cause of consent which is punishable by up to five years in prison. That is, one can also receive a reduced penalty or not be punished at all. "

In the case of sexual contact between an adult and a young woman under the age of 16, the adult may claim that he thought she was older. In such a situation there is discretion for the prosecution, and in no case will an indictment be filed. The court can also exercise discretion.

"Under the age of 16, the age gap between the two parties is also significant, as soon as the husband is not more than the offender for more than three years - this also means in the case of consensual relations," explains Adv. Bombach. "On the bottom line, if the players had a reasonable basis to think that this was a minor Under 16, they were not allowed to have sex with the girls. This is a gray area. It is not that when people who meet and have an intimate relationship, they first ask for an ID card and documents that confirm that both parties are immigrating. You do not meet a 25-year-old woman at the club and find out that she is 25, but rely on her to look like this. The question here is whether the girls looked older or looked young. If, under the circumstances, it was understandable to the actors that it was an adult - then it would be an offense that I had trouble prosecuting. "