IDF lieutenant-colonel suspected of inappropriate relations with subordinate
Officer suspended for 14 days after being questioned by Military Police Criminal Investigation Division on suspicion of having a long consensual relationship with a female officer holding rank of major.
His relations with the female officer, who holds the rank of major, lasted quite a long time. He was questioned and suspended for 14 days.
In his interrogation, the officer said the relationship involved full consent.
The commander of the IDF's first mixed-gender Caracal Battalion, Lt. Col. Elad Cohen, was dismissed about a year ago by GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir following a military police investigation into allegations that he abused his position of authority to gain sexual favors.
Zamir initially suspended Cohen for 30 days in light of the investigation into the claims of consensual inappropriate relations. Cohen was due to complete his tenure as battalion commander at around the same time, regardless of the charges and investigation.
The investigation centered around Cohen's relations with a female officer under his command. According to the initial investigation conducted by the IDF's Criminal Investigations Department (CID), the relationship was consensual.
The relations between Cohen—a married man and father—and the unnamed female officer became a sort of open secret in the battalion that is currently in charge of security on the border with Egypt.
