Army chief’s bodyguard who tried to assault woman appeals

Erez Efrati was sentences to eight years in prison following July conviction.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Erez Efrati, the former bodyguard of IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, filed an appeal Sunday against the eight year sentence he received after being convicted of attempting to sexually assault a 22-year-old woman.
In July, Efrati was sentenced after pleading guilty to attempted sexual assault.
As part of the plea bargain, the court dropped charges of attempted rape, and in addition to his sentence, Efrati received a two years’ suspended sentence and was ordered to pay the victim NIS 150,000.
But Efrati disputed the justice of his sentence on Sunday in Tel Aviv District Court, claiming that his earlier conviction had failed to take into account his level of intoxication during the incident.
Efrati added in his appeal that no significant physical harm had been caused to the young woman during the incident – an argument that sparked an outraged condemnation from Dr. Dana Pugach, head of the Noga Center for Victims of Crime at the Ono Academic College.
Pugach, who has acted as a spokeswoman for the woman Efrati attacked, said Efrati’s claim regarding physical harm was “outrageous and shocking” in light of the fact that he attempted to harm her and was stopped just in time by a passerby.