Calls grow for MK to resign over sexual harassment claims

In a rare move, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein called Thursday for Jewish Home MK Nissan Slomiansky to step down from the Knesset in order to “clarify” sexual harassment claims leveled against him.

The call, matched by several other lawmakers from both the coalition and opposition, came after Slomiansky was named by Army Radio as the Jewish Home party member accused of sexual harassment in a Facebook post earlier this month.

“In these circumstances, I call on Slomiansky to clarify these claims outside of the Knesset walls,” Edelstein told Army Radio. “For the dignity of the Knesset and all of us I call on him to do this from outside of the Knesset.”

Following an investigation by a team of rabbis affiliated with the religious Zionist party, Slomiansky, 70, was expected to publicly apologize for his actions and step down from his position as head of the Knesset Justice and Law Committee, according to Army Radio.

But Slomiansky responded to the report denying “ever assaulting women,” saying only that after meeting with the rabbis he understood his “well-known loving nature may have been misinterpreted.”

Edelstein and other lawmakers said Slomiansky should resign altogether as a Knesset member and if the allegations are shown to be false, he could run for reelection at a future date.

“There are very simple ways to take a break [from public service] and if his innocence is proved then he will return fully,” Edelstein said.

Jewish Home MK Shuli Muallem-Refaeli agreed with the Knesset speaker, saying there should be no place for sexual harassment in public service.

“There is no way of getting out of the fact that my friend Nissan Slomiansky must step down from his work in the Knesset in order to clarify [the allegations],” she told Israel Radio.

Responding on Twitter, Meretz chairwoman Zahava Galon wrote, “It would be wonderful if you could keep your loving nature in your trousers.” She also called for Slomiansky to step down.

Two weeks ago, the Jewish Home party was rocked by allegations swirling on social media that a senior party member had sexually assaulted women over a period of several years.

Posting on Facebook, Jewish Home activist Chagit Moriah-Gibor said she and several other women were collecting testimony against a lawmaker who was known to have been “assaulting women for years already.”

Saying that no victims had been willing to lodge an official complaint, she urged women to come forward, though she did not name the lawmaker.

“The stories are mounting and the silence is very deafening to me,” Moriah-Gibor wrote. “There is a serving MK that attacks and has been assaulting women for years already. I know of an old incident and recently I heard additional outrageous stories. The problem: the price that those women will pay is too great and they are not prepared to talk.”

The claims appear to be of both sexual harassment and assault, including allegations of “serious physical harassment,” Army Radio said Thursday.

A police spokesperson refused to say if an investigation had been opened.

Following the post, Jewish Home chair Naftali Bennett spoke with Slomianky, who denied any wrongdoing, the party said in a statement.

Bennett too urged anyone who may have been harmed to come forward and lodge a complaint.

According to Army Radio, Slomiansky has decided to publicly apologize on advice of the rabbis who looked into the case, including Safed Chief Rabbi and religious Zionist heavyweight Shmuel Eliyahu.

In his response, Slomiansky did not confirm or deny that he would apologize or consider stepping down from any public position.

Speaking to Army Radio Thursday, Moriah-Gibor said she felt “a big sense of relief” that Slomiansky had finally been named, but expected him to resign from the Knesset rather than just step down as a committee chair.

“It has been a hard two weeks in which many accusations were made against me and I have been waiting until this can be revealed and I can put it behind me,” she said. “Of course he should step down from the Knesset. I think that the public needs to demand that he resign.”

Rumors of inappropriate behavior by the Slomianky first surfaced before the last election in March 2015, according to Hebrew media reports. In the weeks before the vote, the party chiefs were reportedly informed of the allegations by women who had worked with the lawmaker in the past.

However, senior party officials were unable to convince any of the women to file a complaint with police.

This is not the first time a Jewish Home lawmaker has faced allegations of sexual harassment.

In November 2015, Yinon Magal resigned from the Knesset over sexual assault claims. In February, the Tel Aviv district attorney’s office announced it halted the probe into Magal after police said they had not found enough evidence to recommend an indictment.

Police had probed Magal on suspicion that he harassed female subordinates while working as a journalist before entering politics. During the investigation, police gathered testimony from women who had worked for Magal over the years, including when he was editor of the Walla news website.

“Yinon Magal resigned for much less than Slomiansky,” Moriah-Gibor told Army Radio Thursday.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.