It seems to me some sort of masochistic rite that the commanders do for their enjoyment rather than something for the benefit of the rookies. If it were for the rookies' benefit, some one else could have woken them up in the middle of the night and given them a few swats. For this they don't need the commanders. Seems like commander has a BS degree, from the way he is trying to BS his way out of a purely masochistic beating. disgusting!!

Don't let it get out of hand. Ynet is doing a good job by exposing these abuses. In Russia it is so bad that many recruits die from the abuse inflicted by commanders or fellow soldiers. Parents do whatever they can to keep their sons away from the army, even emigrate.

This power trip is known through many armies. It has to be stoped and heavily punished. If we loose trust in our commanders, who can we trust?

Important to know that commanders are also being punished and not just other serving soldiers. In this case of course it was the commanders themselves that committed the crimes. In other cases they may not have taken part themselves but they certainly knew it was happening and did nothing to stop it. Or if not - they should have known!

dont let idf become like the russian army where abusing rookies by older soldiers is a tradition. many of them were driven to suicide and desertion.