Commander suspended for 'forgetting' soldier

Follows incident in which Lt.-Col. Moly Cohen left a soldier behind during an operation in Palestinian village Budrus.

IDF soldiers tank Mefalsim area_311 (photo credit: Reuters)
IDF soldiers tank Mefalsim area_311
(photo credit: Reuters)
IDF Chief of staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz decided on Friday to suspend Lt.-Col. Moly Cohen from his position as commander of the 74th Armored Battalion after he left a soldier behind in a Palestinian village during an operation there earlier this week.
The incident took place on Monday when the battalion entered the West Bank village of Budrus near Ramallah for a night raid. Following the operation, the unit left the village but one soldier was accidentally left behind and was found by local Palestinians who brought him to the security barrier nearby and returned him to soldiers from the IDF regional brigade.
Gantz based his decision to suspend Cohen based on findings from the military's probe into the incident, which the IDF said Friday, raised serious flaws with the way Cohen operated that night.