Former minister convicted of indecent act vows to sue if called ‘sex offender’

Haim Ramon, convicted in 2007 of forcing kiss on young soldier, rejects bid by ‘extremist feminist group’ to stop him from lecturing next year at Tel Aviv University

By Sue Surkes

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31 May 2018, 1:03 pm

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Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter

Haim Ramon in the Knesset in 2010. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

A former minister who was convicted of perpetrating an indecent act on a young female soldier in 2007 rejected on Thursday charges by what he called “an extremist feminist group that gives a bad name to feminism,” which said he is not fit to lecture next year at Tel Aviv University.

Haim Ramon, who was sentenced to 100 hours of community service for thrusting his tongue into the mouth of a female soldier against her will at the Prime Minister’s Office, told Israel Radio that he would sue anyone who called him a sex offender.

“The same court that found me guilty ruled that I was not a sex offender, that there was no moral turpitude,” he said, adding that the Supreme Court, to which women’s groups subsequently turned in an unsuccessful bid to prevent him from returning to public life, found that it had been a one-off event and not part of a pattern of behavior.

On Wednesday, a group of female students wrote to Tel Aviv University’s management, “A person who was convicted of indecent acts on a young woman, and who even slandered her name as part of a public campaign waged alongside his court case, cannot teach young female students at the university,” adding that employing a “sex offender” gave the clear message that the university supported “this man.”

Students walk through the Tel Aviv University campus in Israel. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

Ramon, who studied law at Tel Aviv University and went on to serve as a Knesset member and a minister and to lead the Histadrut labor federation, said, “I will not give in to the battle of an extremist feminist group that gives a bad name to feminism.

“All my life, I was clean, I made a mistake, the court ruled it was a one-off event, that I could return to public life — and for one thing, 12 years ago, I’ll give in to that terror? Not on my life. They’re mistaken.”

He added that his course was optional and that anyone who felt uncomfortable did not need to attend his lectures.

A statement from Tel Aviv University said: “Haim Ramon served his sentence and paid his debt to society.”