A Tel Aviv judge caused outrage on Monday when he suggested that some girls get pleasure from sex attacks.

The judge, Nissim Yeshaya, made the comments during an appeal hearing for four Palestinian boys, from the Shuafat refugee camp, who are accused of raping a 13-year-old Israeli girl.

Mr Yeshaya is an experienced judge, having served on the bench of the Tel Aviv District Courts from 1993 to 2007. He had retired but was leading a panel to decide on whether the attack could be defined as an act of terrorism.

Ynet quoted the prosecution lawyer, Roni Aloni-Sadovnik, saying: "In the midst of the passionate debate, he (Judge Yeshaya) suddenly said aloud, in earshot of everyone present, 'There are some girls who enjoy being raped.'"

Ms Aloni-Sadovnik continued: "The room fell into silence, even the panel members were silent for several minutes. And he didn’t even get what he had just said. He didn’t understand why everyone became quiet all of a sudden."

According to the Times of Israel, Culture Minister Limor Livnat, who also heads the ministerial committee for the advancement of women, called on the court administrator to ban Mr Yeshaya from future participation on legal panels.

“The judge’s statement was appalling and outrageous,” she said. “It is difficult to assess the total harm it caused, which may deter other sexual assault victims, present and future, from reporting attacks.”

The judge has apologised for his comments.