President Issac Herzog said on Tuesday that he was sickened by reports about female IDF soldiers who were abused by convicted Palestinian terrorists during their military service as jailers at a high-security prison in northern Israel.
"I am pained and sickened by the testimonies of the former jailers," Herzog said speaking at an event at the President's Residence in Jerusalem.
"How have we come to this that women who were protecting us, were deserted?" Herzog asked.
Several former female jailers have come forward with allegations their commanding officers sent them by order to prisoners' wards alone just to be sexually abused by them.
One of the women claimed she had been repeatedly raped by one of the inmates, who she described as "running the facility", while prison authorities tried to hush the story.
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Former IDF jailer says was repeatedly raped by Palestinian prisoner
(Photo: Nadav Eves)
"Every Israeli woman must be safe and anyone working for the state must be protected," he said.
"We must remember that the scars the soldiers suffered may never heal and are etched in their souls and minds forever. We must thoroughly investigate these cases and bring those responsible to justice. This is our commitment."
In the wake of the soldier's sexual harassment reports, Prime Minister Yair Lapid toured the Ofer Prison in the West Bank earlier on Tuesday in the first such visit by a sitting premier in 30 years.
Accompanied by Public Security Minister Omer Barlev and Knesset's Public Security Committee chair Meirav Ben-Ari, Lapid vowed to investigate allegations of misconduct at Gilboa Prison to the fullest extent.