Probe ordered in Israel after allegations that female prison guards were used as 'sex slaves'

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid promised an investigation Sunday into allegations by a female former guard at a maximum security prison that she was repeatedly raped by a Palestinian inmate after being forced to work as a "sex slave" by her superiors.

Keren Barak, the woman's lawyer affirmed the testimony on Israeli channel during the weekend. Barak said her client needed mental health support.

Lapid told his cabinet on Sunday: "It cannot be (tolerated) that a soldier is raped by a terrorist during her service."

"It must – and will be – investigated. We will make certain that the soldier receives assistance," Lapid said.

'Pimping scandal'

In a separate statement on Sunday, Internal Security Minister Omer Barlev said, the "affair that happened a few years ago in Gilboa prison," had "shaken the Israeli public."

"I read the testimonies that are published and I am simply shocked," Barlev said.

A female prison warden at the Gilboa Prison revealed on Thursday that she was raped by a Palestinian prisoner convicted of security-related crimes, alleging that her commanders "handed [her] over to the attacker."

“My commanders, my colleagues, who I thought were supposed to protect me, handed me to this terrorist,” she wrote in a crowdfunding campaign asking for financial help.

A troubled prison

The prison management attracted fresh focus in September 2021 when six Palestinian prisoners broke out by tunnelling out of their cells.

The past year has seen a series of revelations regarding what some Israeli media call the Gilboa "Pimping Affair," a reference to widespread reports that male supervisors ordered female guards into situations where they were vulnerable to assault by inmates.

A Prisons Service intelligence officer has been questioned under caution over allegations by a former female soldier that she was repeatedly raped by a security prisoner with her commander’s knowledge, according to a Times of Israel report.

The prison officer, Nisim Finish, previously served as the intelligence officer at Gilboa Prison and held the position when the soldier who made the rape allegations served there.

Published on: Monday, August 01, 2022, 11:30 AM IST