Another IDF officer caught misusing army vehicle

Col. Yisrael Danieli suspended from his post as deputy commander of Division 80, in charge of protecting Israel's porous border with Egypt.

By YAAKOV KATZ
yisrael danieli 88 (photo credit: )
yisrael danieli 88
(photo credit: )
Two days after an IDF general resigned for lying about a car accident, another senior IDF officer was suspended Wednesday for allegedly permitting his wife to drive his car without military permission. The officer, Col. Yisrael Danieli, was suspended from his post as deputy commander of Division 80, in charge of protecting Israel's porous border with Egypt. In addition, Danieli allegedly also took military equipment home for his own personal use. Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi suspended Danieli after receiving a recommendation to do so by Judge Advocate-General Brig.-Gen. Avichai Mandelblit and OC Manpower Division Maj.-Gen. Avi Zamir. According to IDF regulations, a spouse is only allowed to drive a military-issue car if the officer is in the vehicle at the time. At a graduation ceremony for senior commanding officers Wednesday evening, Ashkenazi said, "I do not have in me even a single gram of tolerance for cases such as these," adding that "any delinquent, improper behavior [on the part of IDF officers] should be uprooted." On Monday, Brig.-Gen. Imad Faris, the outgoing commander of the Galilee Division, announced his resignation from the IDF after admitting he had lied in a car accident report. Faris, one of the highest-ranking Druse officers in the IDF, told his commanders that he had been in his car during an accident his wife was involved in. He later confessed to lying and resigned. Ashkenazi acknowledged that Faris had done his best for the country during long years of service, but stressed that "his impressive record cannot allow us to ignore the severity of what he did." In June, former Gaza Division commander Maj.-Gen. Moshe Tamir was demoted to the rank of colonel after he also lied in a car accident report, stating that he was the driver of an ATV that was involved in an accident when it has actually been driven by his 14-year-old son. IDF sources said that the three cases did not signify an increase in corruption within the military but rather was part of a new effort to uproot improper behavior. "Officers need to know that such conduct is unacceptable and that they will pay a price," an officer said.