An IDF officer with the rank of brigadier general from the ground arm, who in the past commanded a special unit, hit his driver a few weeks ago while he was driving him, Israel Hayom learned.
Following the incident, a command note was written to him on behalf of his general, he is subordinate.
From the information obtained by Israel Hayom, it appears that the incident occurred several weeks ago, when the senior officer (his name is withheld in the system) was traveling with his driver at the Palmahim base.
According to one of the versions, the driver missed one of the turns and took his vehicle on a flight path without permission.
The senior officer was enraged, tried to wake up the soldier and hit him on the back.
Although the driver complained, the officer was not treated until after the driver contacted the Soldiers' Acceptance Commissioner.
Following the acceptance, one of the generals of the IDF General Staff held an inquiry on the matter, and decided to write the officer a command note only.
The officer is considered highly respected and previously commanded a special unit.
Sources who know him point out that the behavior in the current case is not typical of him, and that he acted this way because the driver did not obey the instructions on the road, and could have endangered their lives when traveling on the flight path without permission.
"He immediately apologized"
At the same time, the behavior is not appropriate for a senior officer in his position, and under no circumstances should he have raised a hand on a soldier serving under his command, especially when by virtue of his position he is entrusted with aspects of personnel and maintaining norms.
An officer with the rank of brigadier general should serve as a personal example to his subordinates. Giving a slap to a soldier serving under his command, especially when it comes to a soldier on mandatory service who is under his direct command, is neither proper nor acceptable on any scale. Therefore, some of the sources we spoke with yesterday claim that a command comment is a light punishment Too much in this case, since the act is inappropriate behavior and does not meet the standards expected of an IDF officer.
It should be noted that in the meantime the officer will finish his duties and retire from the IDF upon the end of his duties in the near future.
The IDF spokesperson responded: "This is an unusual case in which a commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel acted not as expected of a commander in the IDF. The incident happened a few months ago while traveling with a soldier. The officer apologized to the soldier for the way he drove immediately afterward. After an inquiry, which was conducted under the leadership of the officer's commander (at the rank of colonel), it was decided to admonish the commanding officer and clarify to him that his actions are inappropriate. We emphasize that this is a warrior and respected officer, who commanded operational units in combat and held a variety of significant combat roles."
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