Interior Minister Silvan Shalom announced his resignation from the Knesset Sunday amid allegations of sexual misconduct against him by past and present female employees. Shalom, who denies the allegations, has been a Knesset member since 1992 and has held numerous ministerial positions during those years. Army Radio reported Monday that 11 women have leveled sexual harassment allegations against the veteran Likud MK. "For the past 23 years, I have served the public faithfully as an MK and a minister. I have always been driven by the desire to promote important social and public goals, but I have had enough of the torment inflicted on me and my family. My family supports me, but there is no justification for the price they've had to pay," Shalom said in a statement to the media. The move has been dubbed the "Magal effect" as it comes three weeks after Habayit Hayehudi MK Yinon Magal resigned his Knesset seat over sexual harassment allegations. The Meretz party issued a statement following Shalom's announcement, saying his retirement "does not obviate the attorney general's obligation to instruct the police to investigate this issue and obtain testimony from the minister. Given the gravity of this case, the legal process must be exhausted, even if no official complaint is filed." Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein on Sunday accepted State Attorney Shai Nitzan's recommendation and instructed the Police Major Crimes Unit to launch a criminal investigation into the allegations. Galia Wolloch, chairwoman of the Na'amat women's organization, welcomed both Shalom's decision to resign and the attorney general's decision to pursue the claims, saying, "A new norm is being established in which public officials suspected of inappropriate conduct toward women understand that they cannot remain in office." Allegations of sexual misconduct began surfacing against Shalom in March 2014, when three former employees accused him of touching them against their will. All three alleged he had cornered them on various occasions and tried to kiss them. One women said she was once summoned to a Jerusalem hotel room, where Shalom was staying, only to find him waiting for her on the bed, wearing nothing but a bathrobe. Another said, "He kissed me against my will, and when I tried to get away, he chased me into the bathroom." The third woman said that during one of their meetings, Shalom "told me he's had intimate thoughts about me for years and that he wanted to see me outside the office." Weinstein ordered the police to investigate the allegations, but none of the women agreed to press charges, and the case was eventually closed due to insufficient evidence. According to Army Radio, over the years Shalom's alleged misconduct was witnessed by members of his security details, as well as other employees in the ministries he headed, and if they agreed to come forward, their testimonies could corroborate the allegations against him. A police source told Israel Hayom that "the key to this case, as with any sexual harassment case, lies with the women's willingness to testify against Shalom."
