Israeli prison guard was sexually assaulted by jailed terrorist, lawyer says

The prison guard conscript who was reported to have had intimate relations with a terrorist inmate did not have a consensual relationship with the prisoner and was threatened into allowing abuse, her lawyer, Yair Ochayon, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

Contrary to Israeli media reports that surfaced Friday that the conscript had admitted to a consensual relationship to investigators, Ochayon said that the terrorist had threatened to “hurt her and her family, and to ruin her life.” He said that she had been consistent in her testimony and had not changed her story significantly, and had also told this to investigators.

Israeli prison guard is a victim, lawyer asserts

The terrorist had assaulted the woman, but they did not have sexual relations, he clarified. The guard was a victim, and she was not under house arrest as some had reported.

IDF sources noted that the woman was not a soldier as some outlets had reported, but a conscript serving with the Israel Prison Service.

An internal police investigation is ongoing, but details about it and the subjects’ identities are under a gag order. Israeli media reported Friday that more guards are suspected of relationships with the terrorist.

The terrorist was transferred to solitary confinement on Friday, and may be subjected to additional restrictions when he is returned to the general population, the IPS said.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Friday that the policy to remove female mandatory service prison guards from security wings is to be accelerated. He said that this was part of a process that he had pursued since he had taken office almost nine months ago. On Saturday, his office said that IPS is set to remove the guards within a week to 10 days.

“We’re talking about a systematic and ongoing event that can’t be suffered anymore,” Ben-Gvir said Friday. “Exploitation of female prison guards by terrorists and illicit connections is not a situation that will be possible on my watch.”

IPS Commissioner Katy Perry said that the organization would have zero tolerance for such cases in a joint press statement with Ben-Gvir. Perry said that to facilitate the removal of female guards, the service has pursued a massive recruitment drive and enlisted over 1,000 permanent guards “in record time.”

Ben-Gvir said on Saturday that he will propose at the cabinet a judge-led government inquiry committee to investigate the IPS’s conduct, the policies allowing female guards in security wings, the recent scandal, and the so-called “pimping affair.”

The “pimping affair” was a scandal that came to light during inquiries on the 2021 Gilboa Prison break. At least six female prison guards accused commanders of facilitating their sexual assault at the hands of imprisoned Fatah terrorist Muhammad Atallah. The guards were allegedly transferred to his ward in return for intelligence information.

Shira Silkoff contributed to this report.