Accuser ‘grateful’ for Shavit soul-searching over harassment claims
US reporter Danielle Berrin praises Israeli journalist’s ‘admirable’ decision to resign, spend time making amends
American Jewish reporter Danielle Berrin said Sunday she was “grateful” that Israeli journalist Ari Shavit, whom she has accused of sexual assault in a 2014 encounter, published a statement taking full responsibility for his actions.
“I’m grateful for Ari Shavit’s powerful, honest statement,” Berrin wrote on Twitter. She had rejected a previous statement from Shavit, who she said assaulted her and tried to persuade her to come up to his hotel room during an interview in 2014.
“His resolution to do ‘heshbon hanefesh’ — an accounting of the soul — is admirable,” she wrote after Shavit issued his mea culpa and resigned his posts at the Haaretz newspaper and Channel 10’s news program.
Berrin, a senior writer and columnist at the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, published an article last week detailing how an unnamed Israeli journalist, whom she described as a husband and father, assaulted her. Shavit later acknowledged he was the man in question.
I'm grateful for Ari Shavit's powerful, honest statement. His resolution to do 'heshbon hanefesh' – an accounting of the soul – is admirable https://t.co/OOGMIOuNHD
— Danielle Berrin (@danielleberrin) October 30, 2016
“I am ashamed of the serious mistakes I have made in my relations with people in general and with women in particular. I am ashamed that I have not behaved properly toward my wife and my children,” Shavit said in a statement Sunday.
“I am ashamed of the consequences of my deeds. In the past few days I have realized that until now I was stricken with blindness,” he said, adding that he would devote time to his family and to “making personal amends.”
Shavit, who had last week announced he was taking time out from journalism over allegations that he sexually harassed Berrin in 2014, said in the statement Sunday that he took “full moral responsibility” for his past behavior.
The announcement of his resignation came hours after the Forward newspaper published a fresh sexual harassment accusation against Shavit.
An unnamed former JStreet staffer told the New York-based publication that Shavit groped her hand against her will and asked to meet her alone during a professional event in Baltimore.
“I was very uncomfortable,” the woman said of her encounter with Shavit. “There was no misinterpreting” what he wanted, she recalled.
“My actions are my responsibility and I am very sorry,” he told the Forward in a statement. “While I just learned of this situation from your inquiry, I want to be clear about the need to show my respect for the dignity of women and all people at all times.”
Berrin said she brought up her encounter with Shavit to add her voice to those of other women who have been assaulted and now feel compelled and able to speak up in light of the allegations of sexual assault made against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, but indicated she was not considering pressing charges against him.
