Israel’s interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid vowed on Sunday to launch an investigation into allegations by a former guard at a maximum security prison that he repeatedly raped a Palestinian inmate after his superiors forced him into “sexual slavery.”
For years, Israeli media have reported that female guards have been assaulted by inmates at Gilboa prison.
But the prison administration came under new scrutiny in September last year, when six Palestinian prisoners escaped Gilboa by tunneling from their cells through the sewage system in an escape that made international headlines.
Last year saw a series of revelations about what some Israeli media called the “broker case” at Gilboa, referring to widespread reports that male supervisors placed female guards in positions where they were vulnerable to inmate assault.
But last week, a woman who identified herself as a former Gilboa guard and whose name has not been released published an online testimony in which she said she was repeatedly raped by a Palestinian prisoner.
She said her handlers “handed her over” and she became his “sex slave”.
“I didn’t want to be raped and used over and over again,” she added.
The woman’s lawyer, Keren Barak, confirmed her testimony on Israel’s Channel 12 over the weekend, saying his client needed psychological support after the ordeal.
In response, Lapid assured his cabinet on Sunday that “the rape of a female soldier by a terrorist while on duty will not be tolerated.”
He said: “Investigations must be done and will be done. We will make sure that this female soldier receives help.”
In a separate statement on Sunday, Internal Security Minister Omar Bar-Lo said: “The case witnessed a few years ago in Gilboa prison shook Israeli public opinion.”
“I read the published testimonials and I was simply shocked,” he explained.
Lapid said that aspects of the case are subject to a gag order, but that he has spoken with Katy Perry, the commissioner of Israel’s prison service, to ensure that such an incident does not happen again.
In the Gilboa prison, located in the north of the country, Israel incarcerates a number of Palestinians accused of being involved in attacks against Israelis.
Source: Lebanon Debate
