The questioning comes as Israel faces a wave of violence against women and Prime Minister Yair Lapid has promised to investigate the case at Gilboa prison. The prison officer, Nisim Finish, previously served as an intelligence officer at Gilboa Prison and held the position when the soldier who made the rape allegations was serving there. He was questioned under caution by investigators from the national Lahav 433 crime group on Thursday, public broadcaster Kan reported. At least one other guard at the prison told police he had told Finis about the prison rapes. It had been investigated in the past, but the case was closed due to a lack of evidence, the report said. Get The Times of Israel Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms The case was reopened about six months ago and Finnis was questioned again after new evidence emerged, the report said. Details of the case remain under gag order. Police are also considering having the ex-soldier who made the allegation confront the security detainee she accused of raping her, Haaretz reported. The move would require approval from prosecutors. Gilboa Prison, February 28, 2013. (Moshe Shai/Flash90) Investigators want to arrange the standoff because they lack evidence in the case and are looking for support for the accuser’s claims, which could result in a standoff between the two. The former soldier, who has not been publicly named, said Thursday in bombshell allegations that she was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted by a Palestinian security detainer while serving time at Gilboa prison. Nicknamed ‘Hila’, the ex-soldier said she had ‘become a prisoner, the private sex slave’ of a ‘dangerous terrorist’. He identified the inmate in question as the person previously named in the media in connection with reports of female prison guards “pimping” inmates. Earlier this week, the Ynet news website reported that a Palestinian prisoner convicted of terrorism, Mahmoud Atala, was being investigated by police for sexual assault while behind bars. Atallah has been in solitary confinement since 2018 over a scandal in which an intelligence officer allegedly “pimped out” female guards to him and other Palestinian prisoners at his request. Reports of female Israeli soldiers being sexually harassed and assaulted in Israeli prisons surfaced several years ago, but were then largely dismissed until last year, when the investigation was reopened following new evidence. Gilboa prison was also in the spotlight last year when six Palestinian prisoners escaped from the maximum security facility. The prison break inquiry revealed a number of failings in the prisons’ operation and sparked fierce criticism of the Prison Service. A prison guard is seen at an observation post at Gilboa prison, in northern Israel, September 6, 2021. (Flash90) Hilla said she was “handed over” by her commander to a dangerous terrorist “to hurt me and sexually abuse me over and over again” and added that other female guards suffered the same fate. He said the military tried to cover up the case. The man who raped her, she said, “walked around the prison freely, without handcuffs, and with his dirty hands touched the bodies of female soldiers without consequence. Everyone knew, everyone was silent. Everyone was scared. Everyone worked for him.” He claimed that “my commanders, my staff, who I thought were supposed to protect me, handed me over to this terrorist. They made sure I was left alone with him, against clear rules, so he could hurt me badly and sexually abuse me over and over again. and not just me, but many female guards.” She made the claims in a post on crowdfunding site BeActive, where her lawyer Keren Barak has set up a campaign to support her. Barak told Channel 12 that her client “lives in poverty because of her mental condition, which does not allow her to join the labor market.” She said the campaign was created for that reason, to support her with accommodation and treatment. Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Monday that another former prison guard at Gilboa Prison complained of being sexually assaulted at the site. The guard, who also identified herself by the nickname “Ella,” said she was left alone one night to watch about 120 inmates in the security wing. As she made her rounds, one of the prisoners, who was locked in a cell, pulled down his pants and, while staring at her, performed an obscene act. He noted that the prisoner was not Atallah. Ella said that when she reported the incident to her superiors, she was told to speak to another security inmate who was believed to be in control of the others. She did, but said she has remained traumatized by the incident ever since and filed a police report several months ago. The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Subcommittee is expected to hear from members of the Israel Prison Service, the Shin Bet and prosecutors during a special meeting on the scandal this week. Israel Prison Service Commissioner Katy Perry pledged on Friday to investigate the allegations. Katy Perry, head of Israel’s Prison Service arrives to testify before a state commission of inquiry into the escape of security prisoners from Gilboa prison, in Modi’in, January 13, 2022. (Flash90) “As a strong organization that knows how to stand firm on its path, we also know how to investigate, draw conclusions and take care of it as required with full responsibility,” he said. The case was one of several high-profile incidents of violence against women in Israel in recent weeks. Last week, a man is believed to have stabbed his daughter to death before killing himself in a Beit Shemesh apartment, and in a separate case, a teacher was shot dead while her 2-year-old daughter played in her arms. central city of london. Her ex-husband had repeatedly threatened her before the shooting. Lapid spoke out on Sunday about those attacks and alleged rapes by professional footballers, saying the violence was “a stain on the country and cannot continue”. “Although all these cases differ from each other, they have one common denominator: terrible violence against women. It is our responsibility as a society and our obligation as a government to eradicate this phenomenon,” said Lapid. Prime Minister Yair Lapid (right) and Deputy Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on July 31, 2022. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL) Lapid said he spoke with Perry and Homeland Security Minister Omer Barlev on Saturday about the allegations at Gilboa prison. “The incident, which is under scrutiny, and which took place under the previous government, is under a gag order, but it must – and will – be investigated. We will make sure the soldier gets help. We will deal with the accused to the fullest extent of the law,” Lapid said. In a separate statement on Sunday, Barlev said the “case that happened a few years ago in Gilboa prison” had “shook the Israeli public”. “I’m reading the testimonials that are being published and I’m just shocked,” Barlev said. Lapid’s comments came a day after a judge ordered a Londres woman into a protective shelter against her will after shots were fired at her home following threats against her life by her ex-husband. The court’s move drew criticism from an anti-violence lobby group, which said the ruling violated women’s rights. Activists have long complained that not enough is being done to prevent violence against women in Israel, particularly in cases known to the authorities. AFP contributed to this report.
