A Givati soldier was sentenced to four and a half months in prison on Wednesday for injuring a prisoner who was in his care. The soldier was part of a group guarding a number of Palestinian Authority Arabs who had been arrested for suspected terrorist activity in November of 2007. At some point, the soldier took one of the prisoners, who was blindfolded, and led him into a pole, leaving him with light facial injuries.
Prosecutors said the soldier had damaged the IDF’s reputation and that of the state of Israel, while the defense argued that the incident had been unplanned and that the soldier had received high praise during his service. The soldier himself expressed regret. The judges harshly criticized the soldier, but said they would take his personal situation and his regret for his actions into consideration during sentencing. In addition to the four and a half months in prison, the soldier was sentenced to four and half months of parole and will be demoted.