Lone soldier pressured to change 'revealing' WhatsApp photo

The lone soldier told the commander she did not understand what was wrong with the photo and was again asked to change the picture.

IDF SOLDIERS attend a Tel Aviv event last year. The Sar-El program’s army volunteers tend to be both older and from foreign countries (photo credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90)
IDF SOLDIERS attend a Tel Aviv event last year. The Sar-El program’s army volunteers tend to be both older and from foreign countries
(photo credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90)
A lone soldier was told by her commanders that she could not participate in an IDF course if she did not change her WhatsApp picture to something "more respectable," according to an N12 report on Friday.
The soldier, who became a lone soldier after her mother died and she was forced to cut ties with her father, was slated to be sent to a course in order to help her advance in the IDF. She began receiving messages and comments about her WhatsApp profile picture being "revealing."
The soldier decided not to change her profile picture and was then told explicitly by the commander of the course that she must change the picture, or she would not be allowed to participate in the course, N12 reported.
"I am telling you, as the commander in charge of the workshop, that I cannot allow your participation with this picture. I am saying that it would be the smartest [thing to do] on your part to change the picture to something more respectable. We won't allow any soldier to participate in an inappropriate way," the commander told her in a phone call.
The soldier told the commander she did not understand what was wrong with the photo and was again asked to change the picture.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that "the soldier's participation in the course was confirmed Sunday morning. The IDF will investigate the handling of her being slated for the course in the coming days."