Lone soldier claims he was beaten by Israel Rail employees

A Haredi lone soldier claimed that he was beaten by Israel Railways employees as he was traveling from Ben-Gurion Airport to Jerusalem in civilian clothing with a permit to do so, according to Kan news.

One employee reportedly took the soldier’s military ID card, while another called him derogatory names. When the soldier attempted to get his ID card back, the employee began choking him and called for security guards who hit him and injured him, according to radio reports.

יוסף גבאי, חייל בודד לוחם צה”ל, התעמת עם מאבטחי הרכבת בירושלים. עורך דינו, אסף אמון, מסר: “אנו עדים להתנהגות פסולה מצד רכבת ישראל – במקום לפתור את הסוגיה לגופה בחרו להיגרר לאלימות פיזית ומילולית. חשוב לזכור כי מדובר על לוחם חרדי, חייל בודד שאנו מייחלים לשילובם בחברה” @Yossi_eli pic.twitter.com/CGAGgbIoml

— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) November 5, 2019

“We are witnesses to misconduct by Israel Railways,”  said the soldier’s lawyer, Assaf Amon, according to Channel 13. “Instead of resolving the issue, they chose to be drawn into physical and verbal violence. It’s important to remember that we’re talking about a Haredi combat soldier, a lone soldier that we wish to integrate into society.”

Israel Railways told Kan that the soldier arrived at the station “without a military uniform and with an invalid military ID card. Managers of the station acted according to instructions and tried to help him, but he responded aggressively toward the manager of the station. The security system had to exert force as part of their job in order to prevent an escalation of the incident.”

There are approximately 7,000 lone soldiers currently serving in the IDF, of whom roughly half are new immigrants. The other half are Israel-born and from broken homes, used to be in the Haredi community, or come from similar circumstances.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.