A police officer from the Beit She’an station has been charged with an indecent act and sexual harassment involving two female colleagues during patrol shifts, the Justice Ministry’s Police Investigation Department (PID), which investigates allegations of police misconduct, announced on Monday.
The indictment, filed in the Nof Hagalil Magistrate’s Court against Roni Oved, alleges that he drove the officers to isolated areas and subjected them to repeated sexual comments. In one case, prosecutors allege that he also touched an officer sexually without her consent.
The two counts concern separate periods in 2023 and 2025. In the earlier incidents, Oved was serving as shift leader alongside an officer who had recently joined the police.
According to the first count, Oved and another officer went on a joint overnight patrol in April 2025. During the shift, he stopped their vehicle in a grove near Beit She’an and began making sexual comments about her body, which she ignored.
After driving to a nearby lookout point, he told her that he had studied massage and began massaging her back without her consent. The indictment says she froze, and later refused his request to remove her uniform belt.
Victim attempted to shield herself from Oved
Prosecutors allege that Oved continued touching her hands and legs before touching her genital area over her clothing. She tried to shield herself with her hands to prevent further contact.
He then drove to another lookout point, continuing to ask about her sex life and describe sexual acts, according to the indictment. After they left the vehicle, he allegedly pressed himself against her from behind, embraced her, and kissed her neck. She moved his hands away, returned to the patrol car, and asked him to drive back to the station.
That count charges Oved with an indecent act without consent and sexual harassment.
The second count concerns repeated incidents between approximately August and October 2023. According to the indictment, Oved drove another officer to isolated areas during shared patrols and asked detailed questions about her sexual preferences and habits, while describing his own.
The officer asked him to stop or declined to engage in the conversation, prosecutors said. That count charges him with repeated acts of sexual harassment.
The PID, known by its Hebrew acronym Mahash, investigates suspected criminal offenses by police officers. Its structure and independence are also at the center of a separate dispute over legislation passed by the Knesset in June.
The law provides for removing the department from the State Attorney’s Office and establishing it as a separate body within the Justice Ministry, with its own investigative and prosecutorial powers and a new appointments mechanism.
Supporters argue existing arrangement creates conflict of interest
Supporters, including the law’s sponsor, Likud MK Moshe Saada, argue that the existing arrangement creates a conflict of interest: the prosecution works closely with police on criminal cases while also overseeing the body responsible for investigating officers. They say separation would strengthen police accountability and the department’s independence.
Opponents warn that the new structure could instead expose police investigations to political influence. State Attorney Amit Aisman has argued that tying appointments and authority more closely to political officials could undermine investigators’ and prosecutors’ ability to act independently 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 the petitions proceed. The order did not strike down the law or decide its constitutionality.