Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom was accused by a woman who used to work in his office of allegedly sexually assaulting her 15 years ago. The woman, M., says she brought the incident to light so many years later because of Shalom's plans to run for presidency. Shalom, who denies the accusations, is expected to undergo police investigation in the near future.
"I decided to expose the case because of Silvan's candidacy for presidency," M., a 45-year-old mother who works in the tourism industry, told Israel Hayom. "I do not want anything from him, I have no issue with him, it is just not appropriate for him to become president."
"The State of Israel made this mistake once, and it should not be repeated," she added. "Everyone knew about [former President] Moshe Katsav [who was convicted of rape] and they were silent. This must not happen again in Israel as long as it depends on me."
M. met with head of the Israel Police fraud investigation unit Brig. Gen. Ephraim Bracha about a week ago and told him of her allegations. She has since been in daily contact with the police.
Sources close to M. say her testimony is true. One source said that M. is "confident and she sees this as a moral and ethical issue."
M.'s attorney, Roni Aloni-Sadovnik, said M. would be prepared to confront Shalom if necessary during the investigation.
However, those close to Shalom continued to fend off the allegations Monday, saying that Shalom outright denies the acts attributed to him and that he does not know M. nor does he remember that she worked in his office. One source said, "This is a despicable plot with cynical timing. This is an obvious attempt to harm him in the presidential race and to force him not to run before he even makes a final decision about [his candidacy]."
On Monday night, Shalom's wife, Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes, wrote on her Facebook page: "I hope we get to sleep a bit tonight. We did not really manage to eat. Each of us has lost at least two kilos. Good night and thank you for the warmth."
Her son, Nimrod Nir, also took to his Facebook page, writing, "In our family, tact was never holier than truth -- and when you attack us with lies and defamation like this -- watch for a response in kind."
MK Gila Gamliel (Likud), who is close to Shalom, defended him against the allegations, saying, "I hope things work out. It is saddening that this is the name that came up."
According to Deputy Education Minister Avi Wortzman (Habayit Hayehudi), "Of course, public figures must be mindful of their behavior, but this trend of publicly vilifying people before they stand trial does not bode well."
Earlier Monday, Army Radio crime reporter Hadas Shteif released a recording of M., in which she claimed that Shalom asked her to come to a hotel room he was staying at. "I entered his room," M. said. "He sat on the far bed wearing a white bathrobe and asked me to come sit beside him. He told me I was going to change his life."
M. went on to say that when he allegedly asked her to sit beside him, she was scared. "I did not understand, I was in shock. I felt uncomfortable and I did not know what I should do."
Army Radio sent the complainant for two polygraph tests. The first shows her story to be seemingly true, but in the second, her answers to two central questions appeared to be false. When answering whether or not she had sexual contact with the minister, the polygraph indicated a "tendency to lie," and her answer to the question of whether she agreed to the alleged sexual contact out of fear that she would be harmed was found to be false.
In an interview with Israel Radio, attorney Orna Sasson-Tamir said that 15 years ago, M. complained to her about Shalom allegedly committing sexual assault. "I presented her with the two sides of the coin: On the one hand, this is a serious crime," but, Sasson-Tamir explained, it was much more common then for women to encounter difficulties when reporting such crimes to the police. M. then left her office and did not contact her again, Sasson-Tamir said.
A senior police officer said M.'s complaint will be investigated. The statute of limitations on grave sex crimes in Israel is 10 years, but Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein has instructed the police to look into the matter.
A police source suggested this case will only have a turning point "if there are more complainants."
There is no apparent legal impediment stopping the minister from providing testimony to the police, and Shalom is reportedly very interested in presenting his version of the case to investigators.
The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel said in a statement: "Smearing the victim and blaming her after she already [was brave enough] to complain about the harm she went through only increases the feeling of shame and can cause the silencing of sexual assault victims who are debating whether or not to talk about the pain they have gone through."
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו