Why is this a surprise in Democratic Israel

This happens in the US and Australian armies very often, so get off your high horse.

15 year old girls are mature enough to decide their vagina traffic on their own. The soldiers themselves were quite young, so the age difference is minuscule and negligible. There even were romance involved! I've seen relationships with much bigger age differences flourish. The only thing I see wrong is the minor offence of abusing student-teacher authority. I hope the discharged soldiers get away from this with clean hands.

...about? “In what kind of country does a journalist simply disappear with other journalists and news outlets having no recourse to publish about it?” asked one blogger. “China? Cuba? Vietnam? Iran? North Korea?” -- Judith Miller, The Daily Beast

Should I post instances of this from every democratic country in the world?

In the US, there are 27.3 rapes reported per 10,000 people. Also, your beloved Syria doesn't track rape statistics anymore, but we keep hearing about mass, government-organized rape and how 70% of married Syrian women have been raped by their husbands. And democratic Sweden has the highest incidence of reported rapes in Europe, at 63.5 per 10,000 people.

Seems like today's secular idealism is based on the Hollywood model, get in, get as much as you can and get out quick. It is a shame that the self sacrifice of the early generation of Zionists did not become instilled in their children.

Why do posters ask such stupid questions?

In your little worldview physical maturity and emotional maturity arrive at the same time. In the real world it does not. That is why there are laws against marriage before certain ages and laws against consensual sex before certain ages. That is what " statutory" rape is all about...not taking advantage of a person before they have the emotional maturity to make the decision properly. If not for these laws people like yourself would be jumping on girls at the age of 12 claiming that they are old enough to make decisions regarding their "vaginal traffic." There is also the idea of being a trusted mentor which means that person has an even higher duty not to take advantage of their "students." Let's hope you are not one of the wanted violators.

Seems that some jews cant even commit to Israel by making aliah. So save us your arm chair lectures from LA LA land.

and that is why so many israel girls (about 40% last time i looked) are dissauded from the israeli forces, some under the guise of a religiosity that is false, and or minority status. the israeli mother knows what can, and does, go on, as of course i do. whether exploitation, rather than solidarity, is more a part of jewish rather than israeli society, or vice versa i neither know not nor care not. that it might happen elsewhere or not is irrelevant to a self-proclaimed sovereign state. perhaps an ethnographer might advise.

One thing true of teenagers all over the world is that regardless of small differences, they are still quite stupid and irresponsible. You typically realise that when you hit your twenties and look back at your teen years.

In 2006 Colonel Ataf Zahar was sentenced to six years in jail for raping a female soldier under his command. The Military Parole Board recommended his early release even though he showed no remorse. That same year, 16 soldiers and 2 civilians admitted involvement in the rape of a 12 year old girl. General Eliezer Shkedi told a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that 153 soldiers have been questioned on the affair, and 70 of them had received warnings. No one was ever convicted in the case. In 2011, an IDF master-sergeant was charged Monday with raping a female soldier at the Atlit Naval Base. The reserve officer continued to assault the soldier despite her repeated pleas and physical attempts to stop him.

I have been in Israel since 78, not counting two years in the 60's. I live here, but I am from LA , that's 34 years of non stop living here. what about u? You on the other hand seem a bit dense. You think that you since you can read that you have intelligence, but alas it is far from you. Stop assuming and ask, you may become intelligent yet.

Big difference.