Brig. Gen. Mordechai Kahane
Brig. Gen. Mordechai KahaneIDF spokesperson

Major General Kobi Barak, the commander of the IDF's ground forces, suspended Brigadier General Mordechai Kahane for two weeks.

Brig. Gen. Kahane was interrogated by the military police on suspicion that he received and held malfunctioning and working military equipment for an extended period of time.

The decision to suspend Gen. Kahane was confirmed by IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot. The IDF reported that "the Military Police investigation into the matter is ongoing and is being conducted in accordance with the ongoing developments, on which decisions will be made regarding the officer's case."

According to a report by Channel 2, Gen. Kahane brought a container with him to each base on which he served, The container contained a Kalashnikov rifle, a pistol, night vision equipment, and ammunition.

In addition, there were electrical appliances in the container, including a television and a washing machine. The officer asked his personal driver to conceal the weapons, and his driver felt uncomfortable doing so..

Chief Military Advocate General Col. Ran Cohen and Deputy Chief of Staff Ariel Hevron, the senior officer's defense counsel, said, "The officer has a distinguished combat record on the battlefield in a number of central positions in the IDF and in transporting troops in the various combat zones. The officer brought a container with him from time to time when he switched bases, which he used to store his personal belongings and other objects intended for IDF soldiers."

"This is a moral and upright officer who fully cooperated with the investigators and told them his side of the story. The officer is convinced that the investigation will be completed without any criminal charges," they added.

In an unrelated incident, twelve people were detained on suspicion of bribery and fraud last week. Two of the suspects are IDF officers with the rank of lieutenant colonel and lieutenant major. The rest are employees at an organization which provides infrastructure services to army bases.

It is suspected that the two officers transferred millions of shekels of military funds to the employees for work which was not carried out.