Seven soldiers from an IDF combat engineering unit have been charged with severely abusing less-senior soldiers through a system of seniority-based hazing known within the company as “pazam games,” Kan News reported Wednesday. The seven have been detained for more than six weeks.
The indictments include multiple counts of aggravated abuse and describe an alleged pattern of physical violence, humiliation, systematic punishment, and prolonged physical and psychological harm. According to the charges, newer soldiers were subjected to unofficial “company rules” written on a sheet of paper and presented to them when they arrived.
The soldiers were allegedly forbidden from saying phrases such as “I’m tired,” “I’m fed up,” or “How much longer?” They were told that “a junior soldier does not ask questions” and that “the word of a veteran soldier is stronger than the word of an officer.” Violating the rules allegedly resulted in violent punishment.
The indictments describe soldiers being punched, whipped with rifles fitted with safety inserts, beaten with metal hoe handles, kicked with combat boots, sprayed with pepper spray, locked inside rooms and bathroom stalls, and forced to sleep in storage or office containers without proper sleeping conditions. Several soldiers allegedly suffered bruising, back injuries, breathing difficulties, choking, and burning eyes but avoided seeking medical treatment because they feared further abuse.
In one case, a soldier who said “How much longer?” was allegedly locked in a room and whipped with a rifle. Another soldier was held inside a room for approximately half an hour while being punched and whipped. In a separate incident, a soldier was ordered to raise his hands and was beaten for several minutes with a metal hoe handle, a rifle, and fists.
The charges also describe punishment inspections in bathrooms. During one incident, a soldier was repeatedly punched and kicked in the shins with combat boots after cleanliness problems were found. The kicks were allegedly referred to within the company as “Hitlers.” After the soldiers noticed that he was limping, he was allegedly kicked again in front of others and beaten again the following day when he struggled to continue working.
Other allegations include pouring bleach, toilet-cleaning products, and soap onto soldiers in the showers; firing air-rifle pellets into soldiers’ backs and stomachs; threatening them with an electric stun device; and forcing them to sleep in containers without air conditioning, lighting, electricity, or mattresses.
One defendant allegedly called himself “Pharaoh” and said that “in the past, junior soldiers used to get beaten.” In another incident, a veteran soldier allegedly ordered a newer soldier to wake him and then punched him after he complied. When the soldier asked why, the veteran allegedly replied, “Because you woke me up.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
