Lieutenant Colonel Elad Cohen, Commander of the Caracal Battalion, was suspended for 30 days following an MPCID investigation into suspicions of his consensual relationship with a female subordinate, Ynet reported.
Caracal Battalion, named after a small cat whose sexes appear identical, is an infantry combat battalion composed of both male and female soldiers. As of 2009, approximately 70% of the battalion was female.
The IDF Spokesman’s Office on Tuesday stated that Southern Command Chief Gen. Eyal Zamir had decided on the suspension following the investigation of inappropriate relations with a subordinate. It was noted that the officer was about to retire from his current position in the coming weeks.
The investigation concerns the relationship of the battalion commander with an officer who served under him. At least according to the initial MPCID report, the relationship was consensual.
In a conversation the commander had on Monday with Gen. Zamir, Lt. Col. Cohen admitted to the charges and took responsibility for his actions. The relationship between the battalion commander, who began his career in the Golani Brigade, and who is married with children, has been an open secret in the battalion, which is posted on the Egyptian border.
According to sources inside the battalion, rumors of the relationship reached officers and NCOs inside and beyond the battalion weeks ago.
The MPCID is investigating the charge that the forbidden relations between the two officers were “realized several times at the battalion base.”
In a letter to his soldiers, which Lt. Col. Cohen issued a while ago, the commander wrote: “The integration of male and female warriors is fully integrated in the battalion. Today, no soldier in the battalion raises an eyebrow at the sight of a female fighter loaded with heavy weapons who carries so much weight. The full equality of all the combatant on every facet of the service is self-evident.”
And then some.