Last update - 00:00 11/01/2007
IDF officers involved in fatal training exercise strike plea bargain
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
The trial of officers from the Duvdevan elite unit, involved in a training exercise in which a soldier, Roi Dror, died as a result of dehydration, will soon come to an end after a plea bargain was struck.
The Military Tribunal convicted five officers of negligence, and according to the sentence, still pending approval, the promotion of Colonel Nadav Padan - currently head of the Officer's Academy - will be delayed for close to three years.
Dror died during an exercise in June 2002 and, as a result of the investigation, a number of failures in the monitoring of the training were uncovered. Padan had been appointed commander of the unit two and a half months earlier, following the death of Lt. Colonel, Eyal Weiss, in an accident during an operation near Tul Karm.
Padan, his deputy, Lt. Colonel Eran Wolk, the officer in charge of training and two squad commanders, were charged with negligent manslaughter.
The decision to bring charges against Padan was strongly criticized by the upper brass because of his involvement in the fighting in the West Bank. His apologists said that he could not be in a position to monitor the training while Operation Defensive Shield was underway in the West Bank.
The plea bargain involved lowering the charges to "negligence" and the promotion of the other two senior officers will also be delayed. However, the two junior officers will be demoted and lose their rank.