Northern Israel police officer indicted over alleged sex offenses against two female colleagues

A police officer serving at the Beit Shean station in northern Israel has been indicted on charges of an indecent act and sexual harassment involving two female colleagues, the Justice Ministry's Police Investigation Department announced on Monday. The department, which handles allegations of police misconduct, filed the indictment against Roni Oved in the Nof Hagalil Magistrate's Court.

Prosecutors allege that Oved drove the two officers to isolated locations during patrol shifts and directed repeated sexual comments at them. In one of the cases, he is also accused of touching an officer sexually without her consent.

The two counts in the indictment cover separate periods in 2023 and 2025. In the earlier set of incidents, Oved was acting as shift leader alongside an officer who had only recently joined the police force.

According to the first count, Oved took part in a joint overnight patrol with another officer in April 2025. During that shift, he allegedly stopped their vehicle in a grove near Beit Shean and began making sexual remarks about her body, which she ignored.

The indictment states that after driving on to a nearby lookout point, Oved told the officer he had studied massage and began massaging her back without her consent. She froze, according to the filing, and later refused when he asked her to remove her uniform belt.

Prosecutors say Oved went on to touch her hands and legs before touching her genital area over her clothing, while she tried to shield herself with her hands. He then allegedly drove to another lookout point, where he continued asking about her sex life and describing sexual acts. After they got out of the vehicle, he pressed himself against her from behind, embraced her and kissed her neck, the indictment says. She moved his hands away, returned to the patrol car and asked to be driven back to the station. That count charges Oved with an indecent act without consent and with sexual harassment.

The second count relates to repeated incidents between roughly August and October 2023. Oved allegedly drove another officer to isolated areas during shared patrols, asking detailed questions about her sexual preferences and habits while describing his own. Prosecutors said the officer asked him to stop or declined to engage. That count charges him with repeated acts of sexual harassment.

The Police Investigation Department, known by its Hebrew acronym Mahash, investigates suspected criminal offenses by police officers. Its structure and independence are separately at the center of a dispute over legislation passed by the Knesset in June, which would remove the department from the State Attorney's Office and establish it as a standalone body within the Justice Ministry, with its own investigative and prosecutorial powers and a new appointments mechanism.

Supporters of the law, including its sponsor, Likud MK Moshe Saada, argue that the current arrangement creates a conflict of interest, since the prosecution works closely with police on criminal cases while also overseeing the body that investigates officers. They contend that separation would bolster police accountability. Opponents, including State Attorney Amit Aisman, warn the new structure could expose police investigations to political influence and weaken the independence of investigators and prosecutors in sensitive cases.

In September, the High Court of Justice issued an interim order freezing specified provisions of the law, including its appointments arrangements, while petitions against it proceed. The order did not strike down the law or rule on its constitutionality.