Female Israeli Soldiers Punished for Posting Racy Pictures of Them Posing Nearly Nude with Military Gear

JERUSALEM (TheBlazeAP) -- The Israeli military said Sunday that it has disciplined a group of female soldiers who posed for racy photos in underwear and combat gear and posted the images on Facebook. And now, a day later, more images said to be from the same base are surfacing.

The incident was the latest in a string of episodes involving young Israeli soldiers on social media that have drawn reprimand from the military.

Israeli news site Walla said the women were new recruits stationed on a base in southern Israel. One picture showed the soldiers removing their fatigue uniforms to expose their underwear and back sides. In another, five women posed in what appeared to be a barracks room, dressed only in helmets and a small amount of combat equipment. The faces of the soldiers were blurred in the photos.

More photos surfaced Monday on the site showing similar behavior among women at the base:

One of the racy photos that apparently landed a group of female Israeli soldiers in trouble. We have cropped the photo. (Source: Walla)

A rough translation of the most recent Walla article suggests some are outraged the women did not face harsher penalties, especially since the most recent photos involve the use of weapons.

In a statement, the military said the young women had acted in a manner that showed "unbecoming behavior" for Israeli soldiers. "The commanding officers disciplined the soldiers as they saw fitting," it said.

The statement did not identify the soldiers or give any details about the punishments. Military officials said the base conducted educational lectures to keep soldiers from repeating the offense.

Several times in recent years, the Israeli military has disciplined soldiers for what were considered improper postings in social media sites.

In a video posted to YouTube in 2010, a male Israeli soldier was filmed dancing suggestively around a blindfolded Palestinian woman. That incident followed the discovery of photos earlier that year showing a female soldier posing in front of Palestinian prisoners.

Shortly thereafter, the Israeli military banned soldiers from using social media sites while on base. The ban was an effort to prevent future embarrassing posts on social media. It remains unclear whether the ban is in effect.

Early this year, another soldier was reprimanded for writing anti-Palestinian tweets and posting pictures to multiple social media services showing himself naked with a gun.

Most Jewish Israeli men and women are required to serve in the military, starting at age 18.

TheBlaze Editor's note: We have chosen only to show one cropped picture. You can see more from Walla.com here.

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