Crime and punishment in the IDF

The Times of Israel has an interesting report on military justice in the IDF. Excerpt:

The types of low-level crimes that land most soldiers in prison do not require them to be tried before a military court, instead leaving the judgment and punishment up to the discretion of their commander.

According to Chief Military Defense Counsel Ran Cohen, whose unit represents soldiers on trial, this practice gives far too much power to these officers, who use prison “as a default choice, rather than a last resort.”

“We must increase our oversight and reduce [the commanders’] powers,” Cohen told Army Radio on Wednesday, following the station’s release of the military’s latest incarceration figures.

“These statistics indicate a serious problem,” he said.

Personnel of Ethiopian background are punished at materially higher rates than other IDF personnel. The IDF's manpower shop has a committee that will study whether commanders' powers to deal with minor disciplinary offenses should be restricted.