An IDF battalion commander who allegedly left one of his soldiers behind in a village near Ramallah in the West Bank during an operation this week, will be suspended until the completion of a military investigation into the incident.
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz ordered on Friday that Lieutenant Colonel Muli Cohen, commander of the IDF's "Saar" battalion, be suspended pending the results of the investigation.
IDF sources said on Friday that the investigation would look into a possible moral failure on the part of the officer, in addition to operational failures.
Haaretz reported earlier this week that an IDF soldier was left behind in the village of Budrus on Wednesday night. According to Palestinian residents of the village, several IDF vehicles entered Budrus overnight, leaving behind a soldier when they left several minutes later.
One villager told Haaretz that the soldier was frightened and asked two elders to assist him out of the village. They accompanied him to the separation fence, in an attempt to avoid a confrontation with some of the village youth, where they were met by the soldier’s officer and other soldiers.
In response to the incident, the IDF initially said that contact had been made with the soldier who was left behind. Later, however, it turned out that the IDF had not in fact made contact with the soldier.
