Female Israeli soldiers disciplined for 'unbecoming behaviour' after posing for pictures dressed only in their underwear and combat fatigues
- The women are new recruits based in southern Israel
- Pictures show them dressed only in their underwear and combat fatigues
- Israeli military said they were disciplined for their 'unbecoming behaviour'
- Latest in string of incidents involving Israeli soldiers posting inappropriate images to social media
By BECKY EVANS and AP REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 08:44 GMT, 3 June 2013 | UPDATED: 11:05 GMT, 3 June 2013
Four Israeli female soldiers have been disciplined after pictures of themselves dressed only in their underwear and combat gear were posted on Facebook. The Israeli military said yesterday the group of women were punished for their 'unbecoming behaviour' after the pictures emerged on local news sites. The images, published on Israeli news site Walla, showed the soldiers removing their fatigues to expose their underwear and back sides.
The Israeli military said the soldiers were disciplined for 'unbecoming behaviour' after the pictures were posted online
In another, five women posed in what appeared to be a barracks room, dressed only in helmets and a small amount of combat equipment.
Walla, which blurred the faces of the woman, said they were new recruits stationed on a base in southern Israel. The incident is the latest in a string of episodes involving young Israeli soldiers on social media that have drawn reprimand from the military. In a statement, the military said the young women had acted in a manner that showed 'unbecoming behaviour' for Israeli soldiers.
'The commanding officers disciplined the soldiers as they saw fitting,' it said.
The women posed in their underwear and combat fatigues in the images that were posted on Facebook
The statement did not identify the soldiers or give any details about the punishments. Military officials said the base conducted educational lectures to keep soldiers from repeating the offence. Several times in recent years, the Israeli military has disciplined soldiers for what were considered improper postings in social media sites. Last year, the social media chief for the Israel Defence Force, was branded 'racist' after posting a picture on Facebook of his face covered in m&d alongside the caption 'Obama style'. Lt. Sacha Dratwa faced a barrage of abuse for the picture, which appeared to show him swimming in the Dead Sea, and denied he was racist. A male Israeli soldier was also condemned after being filmed dancing suggestively around a blindfolded Palestinian woman in a video posted to YouTube in 2010.
In 2010, this Israeli soldier was disciplined after posting a picture of her with a blindfolded man online
That incident followed the discovery of photos earlier that year showing a female soldier posing in front of Palestinian prisoners.The Israeli military banned soldiers from using social media sites while on base after the photographs came to light. The ban was an effort to prevent future embarrassing posts on social media. It remains unclear whether the ban is in effect.Early this year, another soldier was reprimanded for writing anti-Palestinian tweets and posting pictures to multiple social media services showing himself naked with a gun.
Most Jewish Israeli men and women are required to serve in the military, starting at age 18.
