In the Arutx Sheva article Following Prison "Pimping scandal:" Conclusions drawn at the end of the summer, I was appalled and horrified to see that the article only dealt with "examining the nature of army service for male and female soldiers assigned to the prison system".
The first conclusion drawn should have been that prison officials were responsible for allowing an Arab terrorist to rape Hila, an IDF soldier, while doing her service in an Israeli prison. That was what really happened, that is what is despicalbe, and declaring the start of the long overdue examination served to gloss over that accusation.
Examining the entire system was certainly necessary and turned up alarming statistics in a report released on Monday, November 28th - close to 40% of females serving the IDF and prison service have been harassed while a quarter of female police officers have suffered the same.
However, the headline of the article on the prison service pimping scandal should have read: "Prison officials knowingly allow Arab terrorist to rape Israeli soldier" and the media's investigative reporters should have dealt with who allowed Hila to be raped, who else knew besides those in the prison and who, since then, of those people have been prosecuted and sentenced by our court system.
The media made no mention of those responsible for allowing this to happen and whether or not they were brought to justice. I am referring to not only the prison officials who allowed it to happen, but also those who knew about it and did nothing to stop it.
Just the headline for this article was a slap in the face for Hila, as well as for the mothers and fathers who are sending their daughters to serve in the army. It also did nothing to discourage further actions of t his type.
This specific incident happened in 2015, but was allegedly going on between 2014 and 2018, and seven years later we have yet to hear about anyone being held accountable or charged with a crime. Yes, I have heard the same mantras from many people: "Be patient, they are investigating", or, "Revealing information now would hinder the ongoing investigation".
What they are doing is stretching out this "investigation" in the hope that it will slowly fade away and be forgotten. But we, the parents of these children, do not want to wait until those who are guilty are too old to walk to the courthouse to attend their trial. Maybe that’s what the politicians are hoping will happen. Why wasn't anyone suspended immediately? Or if they were, why is it not publicized to act as a deterrent?
The Ministers of Defense and Public security know exactly who ordered the IDF soldier to be "made available" to the terrorist. This was not a decision that emanated from the lower ranks.
The horror of what they put Hila through is too painful to imagine. How did we get to the point in our society where we allow our soldiers in the IDF to be pimped to criminals who are sitting in jail for murdering Jews? How is it possible that prison officials knowingly allowed the terrorists to abuse our daughters? Are these prison officials still working in the prison? What happens to the harassment cases in the IDF and police?
Each and every one of the people involved must be charged with the most severe criminal offense. Those who "just knew about it" are as guilty as those who committed it They are all guilty of the rapes.
What kind of society have we become if we allow these things to happen? What does this say about us as a society? What will we tell our children when they ask us why we were silent and did not protect our own soldiers?
We must demand justice now. How many more years will it be until the guilty parties are exposed?
We are supposed to love and cherish our sons and daughters, and not send them to the wolves, and even to those who are trying to kill us. It is a stain on all of us.
I am crying for you Hila. I am crying for all those young women harassed while serving their country.
When you are kind to the cruel, you will end up being cruel to the kind. If we don't shout out, then we are all complicit in crime.
Judy Cohen is a concerned Israeli citizen.