Two combat soldiers in the haredi infantry unit of the Nahal Brigade were arrested this week on suspicion of having beaten a Palestinian policeman at a checkpoint, Ynet discovered Monday.
The soldiers were originally to be detained for 28 days but, because of the severity of the charges, the case was transferred to the military police for investigation. As such, the two may face criminal charges and penalties.
According to reports received by the IDF, the incident took place over a month ago, when the policeman arrived at checkpoint in the Jordan valley and was allegedly assaulted by two soldiers.
There were two other soldiers at the checkpoint at the time of the alleged incident, neither of whom have given testimony, but it is known that the policeman was injured all over his body on the date of the incident and needed to be hospitalized for three days.
The two soldiers, whose remand has been extended until Thursday, deny the charges and claim that the Palestinian policeman refused to identity himself, at which point they pressed him against a cement block and then released him without beating him.
The lawyer of one of the soldiers said that his client is an exemplary soldier in his brigade, who had already been judged by his brigade commander, such that there was no reason not to let him complete his original punishment without additional trial.
The IDF spokesperson's office said that "the brigade commander judged the soldiers immediately following the incident. The judge advocate general, after seeing the case file, determined that a military police investigation was needed, which called for the original punishment to be overturned pending trial."