Six Air Force officers have been handed prison sentences for taking part in abusive hazing ceremonies for young recruits in the force's air traffic control unit, the IDF Spokesperson's Office stated Thursday.
Two of the officers were sentenced to 31 days and another two were sentenced to 24 days after being found guilty of conducting the ceremonies.
In addition, a reserve officer was sentenced to seven days in prison and another officer was handed a suspended sentence of 21 days for witnessing the events. Another officer is scheduled to stand trial in the coming days.
A unit investigation revealed that senior controllers held the hazing ceremonies during a course for new recruits to their unit last week. The officers conducting the ceremonies were said to have tied and beat the soldiers, sprayed them with cold water, and forced them to eat garlic.
The events came to light after an officer involved reported them to the unit commander. The commander learned that the recruits were given a briefing before the ceremony in which they were told their participation was not mandatory, and that they could halt the proceedings at any time.
The investigation also revealed that the ceremonies have become a unit tradition, and have been practiced for many years.
Air Force Commander Major-General Ido Nehushtan ordered the commander of the air traffic control units, Colonel Moshe, to try the officers involved and punish them to the full extent of the law.
Nehushtan also ordered Moshe to mark a reprimand in the record of the lieutenant-colonel in charge of the unit in which the abuse took place.
Efrat Weiss contributed to this report