A civil claim exceeding NIS 1 million has been filed against a former company commander in the Israel Defense Forces, seeking reimbursement of disability benefits already disbursed — and those projected for the future — in connection with sexual offences he carried out against soldiers who served under him, prosecutors stated on Monday.
The legal claim, lodged at Nazareth Magistrate's Court on behalf of the Defence Ministry, names former Captain Ofir Menachem as the party liable for expenses incurred by the public as a result of his actions. Prosecutors stated the civil action had no known precedent of its kind.
Following a guilty plea to charges involving two women who reported to him, Menachem received a custodial sentence and had his rank reduced to that of private.
The lawsuit contends that Menachem's role overseeing subordinates carried with it an obligation to safeguard their welfare and maintain the trust they placed in his leadership. Prosecutors allege that he used his position of authority to take advantage of the women, thereby undermining both his duty toward them and the wider confidence placed in the military institution.
According to the ruling from the military appeals tribunal, Menachem combined propositions of a sexual nature with conversations about the soldiers' duty assignments and their applications for time away from service. The ruling documents that, during May 2022, a member of the unit approached Menachem with a request to leave early on weekday evenings, citing personal matters as the reason, and that remarks of a sexual nature were directed at her over the course of that exchange.
According to the judgment, she participated in the exchange because gaining his approval for her requests depended on it. He subsequently invited her to his room and pressed her on multiple occasions to arrange a meeting. Her responses to his advances took the form of hesitation and evasion, while concern about the authority he held over her through his role as her commanding officer remained a factor in her thinking. According to the ruling, he also informed both women that they were competing for a single available post.
Charges in the case were first lodged through a formal indictment submitted by prosecutors in September 2023. A revised indictment formed the basis of Menachem's guilty plea in July 2024, reached after a mediation process. Among the charges on which he was found guilty were sexual offences tied to the misuse of positional authority during his time in the armed forces, along with harassment of a sexual nature arising from that same abuse of rank, and conduct deemed unbecoming of a member of the military.
A military court ruling handed down in February 2025 reduced his rank to private, set a 22-month custodial term, attached suspended sentences, and directed that the two women collectively receive NIS 38,000 as a compensatory award. A military appeals court trimmed that term to 18 months in May 2025.
The appeals panel cited two factors in reducing the sentence: a principle favouring incremental escalation in penalties, and the defendant's decision to plead guilty, which meant the victims were not required to take the stand and recount events to establish his culpability. No adjustments were made to the remaining penalties.
Findings from the criminal proceedings form the foundation on which the civil action rests. The government's position, as set out by prosecutors, is that reimbursement for benefits already disbursed — and those anticipated in the future — provides the basis for its standing to pursue compensation claims on behalf of the women Menachem harmed. Funds recovered through the litigation would be directed back into the public treasury.
