Last month, the Chief Military Prosecutor, General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, announced that she would meet with the victims in the case to allow the victims to make their voices heard. Today (Sunday) the military prosecutor’s office announced that it intends to withdraw from the plea agreement signed with Sharoni and therefore requested to postpone the hearing. In addition, Yerushalmi updated that the final decision regarding the plea deal will be made in the near future after hearing the defense attorney’s position.
As a reminder, according to the plea agreement reached by the parties, subject to the approval of the special court, Roni will be demoted to the rank of private, and will pay financial compensation to the victims of the crime, in a total amount of about a quarter of a million shekels. The prosecution will demand an actual prison sentence of several years, which will express the seriousness of his actions.
The plea agreement does not include an agreement regarding the payment of the retirement allowance. A decision regarding the payment of a retirement allowance to Sharoni will be made by the Chief of Staff (with the approval of the Minister of Defense), at the relevant time. The Chief of Staff’s position is that in this type of case the accused should be denied the right to a pension due to his serious actions. On the other hand, similar to previous cases, the members of Sharoni’s nuclear family will be able to request a benevolence, which will be paid only to them, and directly, without the accused being entitled to receive it. The complainants will also be able to claim compensation in a civil procedure.
Dan Sharoni, in the center Photo: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90
For years he hid cameras and watched the soldiers
After admitting to the acts and taking full responsibility for them, the parties will request that the court refer Sharoni to the authorized authorities who will conduct an arrest review, which will include an assessment of sexual dangerousness and an examination of rehabilitation options and treatment frameworks. After receiving the report, and subject to writing in it, the military court will rule on Sharoni’s request, who has been detained for months, to be released as an alternative to detention (house arrest or conditional release). Sharoni’s military service will be terminated immediately. The parties will request that the arguments for punishment before the military court be heard after his service ends, and the court will discuss and decide on this request.
According to the IDF spokesperson, 29 out of the 40 victims agreed to the plea deal. The IDF, through the Mahot Center, provided victims serving in the IDF with assistance and support, together with all the professionals. As you may recall, Sharoni was arrested last November after years of secretly recording female soldiers using cameras cleverly hidden in various objects in the room. For example, cameras were hidden in mobile phone chargers that were attached to the wall. In addition, he used to transfer to his mobile phone intimate photos of female soldiers who served under his command.