Victims' counsel for IDF personnel

The Israel Defence Force will now be providing counsel for victims of sex offenses. Ha-aretz has the story here. Excerpt:

The Victims’ Rights Law, which took effect in the civilian world more than a decade ago, still doesn’t apply in the army. That law entitles crime victims to be briefed on the status of the investigation into their case and the status of the trial, if there is one. In the case of sex crime victims, it also entitles them to be notified before a suspected or convicted assailant is released. And in 2014, the law was amended to allow sex crime victims to choose the gender of the person investigating their cases. 

The MAG Corps claims it upholds the spirit of this law even though it isn’t formally bound by it. An army source said this is due to “a moral worldview that sees the importance of defending crime victims, even if the law doesn’t explicitly apply to the IDF.” 

But the fact that the army will now provide legal assistance to victims of sex crimes is expected to help those victims insist on receiving the same rights that the law grants civilians.