IDF indicts three officers in drowning death of soldier
Sgt. Evytar Yosefi drowned last year in the Hilazon Stream during a navigation drill
By ANNA AHRONHEIMIDF troops during a training exercise – ‘In a situation where Israel is coping with multiple fronts, we still need to decide... what is the priority. This is a difficult problem.’(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
An IDF military court has indicted three officers for failure to prevent the drowning of Sgt. Evyatar Yosefi during a navigation exercise last year in the Hilazon Stream in the North.Yosefi was part of the Gadsar paratrooper reconnaissance battalion when he was swept away while participating in a navigation training exercise in the Galilee. His unit had been hiking around the stream, working in pairs to learn how to navigate in the wilderness.He was found two hours later by rescue personnel about 100 meters from where he fell into the water.The investigation determined that several officers neglected to perform their duties and had violated orders. In March, five officers were dismissed from their positions: the soldier’s team leader, a lieutenant; his deputy platoon commander, a lieutenant; his platoon commander, a captain; the commander of his training program, a major; and his battalion commander, a lieutenant colonel.On Wednesday, following a hearing for the officers, Military Advocate-General Sharon Afek decided to file charges, under plea bargains, against three of the five. The battalion commander will confess and be convicted of noncompliance with the military’s mandatory instructions; the company commander will confess and be convicted of negligence; and the team leader, who has already been discharged, will confess and be convicted of negligence.The plea bargains are subject to approval by a military tribunal and will be presented shortly, the IDF said. For the two other officers, the platoon commander and the company commander, the hearings have ended and decisions will be made shortly, the IDF said.As part of the plea bargain, the battalion commander, who will be able to continue his military service, was sentenced to probation. While the officer was not present at the time of the navigation exercise, he was sentenced because he did not comply with instructions during the preparations of the drill.The deputy platoon commander was sentenced to 100 days of military work, and the team leader was sentenced to 45 days. They were both demoted in rank and a given suspended sentences.In March, the military said the investigation found that the way in which the exercise was prepared deviated from army orders, did not adhere to the characteristics of the training series, was conducted with many errors and was carried out in a manner that “lacked concern for details.”The decision to embark on a drill in stormy weather conditions, as well as the physical and mental load, “increased the level of training complexity and risks without taking steps to cope with these conditions,” all of which also contributed to Yosefi’s death, the IDF said.“The behavior of the chain of command during the event, which did not live up to what is expected of IDF officers, was what created the conditions that led to this tragic consequence,” the military said at the time.
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