Israeli Military Reprimands Soldier for Assault on CNN Journalist but Declines Criminal Charges

The Israeli military reprimanded a reservist soldier for using physical force against CNN photojournalist Cyril Theophilos but declined to pursue criminal charges, the Israeli military said Monday. The incident occurred in March in the village of Tayasir in the occupied West Bank. The soldier placed Theophilos in a chokehold and forced him to the ground while he was filming.

Other soldiers pointed their rifles at the CNN crew and detained the journalists. CNN was authorized to film in the area, where Israeli settlers had established an illegal outpost. “The investigation found that during the encounter between the IDF soldiers and the media crew in the area, physical force was used by one of the soldiers against a photographer from the media organization,” the military said in a statement to CNN.

The military police criminal investigations unit examined the assault. “After the soldier expressed remorse for his actions during the disciplinary process, he received a formal command reprimand,” the IDF said. A reprimand is entered in a soldier’s personnel file and affects future service.

The military did not name the soldier. A separate soldier who spoke on camera about “revenge” against Palestinians was dismissed from the IDF at the time. IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir suspended all operational activities of the soldier’s battalion, the reserve component of the ultra-Orthodox “Netzah Yehuda” unit.

The battalion returned to the West Bank 30 days later after an education seminar and additional training.