Former MK Einat Wilf questioned over complaint she attacked child
Ex-lawmaker’s attorney says parents of first grade student she allegedly pushed during class trip are just trying to extort her
Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Former Knesset member Einat Wilf was revealed Wednesday as the lawmaker questioned last week over accusations that she assaulted a minor, but claims the parents who filed a complaint with police are just trying to blackmail her for money.
Wilf’s name was permitted for publication as being at the center of the incident which reportedly happened last week when she was an accompanying parent for a first grade school trip in south Tel Aviv.
At some point, she got into an altercation with one of the children, a boy aged 6, and pushed him against a fence, according to the complaint filed by his parents over the weekend.
Wilf was questioned by police on Monday and then sent home.
The story was first reported by Hebrew media on Saturday, but without mentioning Wilf by name.
Wilf, 48, served in the 18th Knesset from 2010-2013, first as a Labor MK and then as part of the split off Independence Party. She has since worked at several think-tanks and written a number of books.
Attorney Joshua Lieberman, representing Wilf, in a letter Wednesday to the parents called the accusations “an empty complaint as part of an attempt to blackmail my client.”
He noted that the parents had earlier proposed that she pay out hundreds of thousands of shekels in order for the story to not be leaked to the press, Hebrew media reported.
Lieberman added that “distributing falsehoods and false accusations” to media about Wilf is slander and warned that the parents will be held responsible for any costs, aggravation, or damage to reputation caused to his client.
