Women soldiers sent to be raped by terrorist in exchange for ‘intelligence’

The Gilboa prison sex scandal is not an aberration but a sign of deep problems in Israeli society, writes ELANA SZTOKMAN.

I thought nothing could shock me after years of researching sexual abuse. But recent revelations that an IDF officer knowingly sent female soldiers under his command to be raped by a Palestinian terrorist incarcerated in the Gilboa prison have taken the issue of sexual assault to a new low.

Between 2014-2017, a young woman who was doing her compulsory service as a prison guard was repeatedly instructed by her commanders to sexually “service” a Palestinian prisoner named Mahmoud Atallah, who had been sentenced for murder and terror.

She was left alone with him in an area with no cameras, where he raped her. He was also allowed to walk around uncuffed and was given free rein to grab her and apparently other female guards any time. He was promised these privileges apparently in exchange for some “intelligence”.

Five other soldiers have now come forward and reported similar experiences.

The soldier who broke the story, “Hila”, wrote in her crowd-funding campaign that this was an “open secret” and that since then her “life has been hell”.

"My commanding officer, my superiors, the ones who I thought were supposed to protect me, handed me over to this terrorist. They made sure that I would be alone with him, against clear guidelines, in order for him to cruelly torture me and sexually abuse me over and over again. And not just me, also many other female prison guards. He could have killed me, or taken me hostage, just the two of us, without handcuffs or bars. He is a convicted murderer! A terrorist! What were they thinking to themselves? That he would ‘just’ have fun with me? That it’s okay? That it’s okay to sacrifice a female soldier in exchange for information? Quiet? Money? I can’t even imagine what they got in exchange for a female soldier’s body."