The Israel Air Force was rocked by allegations of serial statutory rape at one of its bases. Police lifted a gag order Sunday on a year-long investigation into allegations that as many as 30 airmen at a base in southern Israel had sex with a local girl when she was 13 and 14. According to media reports, the suspects told police investigators that the girl, whose father serves on the base, claimed she was 16 — the age of consent in Israel. The teen told investigators that the sex was consensual. Air force chief Maj.-Gen. Eliezer Shkedy, who recently fired a senior officer for running an illicit stockbroking operation for soldiers, ordered a crackdown in the latest scandal.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.