Accused of sexual indecency, outgoing bar head insists relation with lawyer was consensual

The outgoing head of the Israel Bar Association denies wrongdoing after a report accused him of a sexually indecent act in front of a young female lawyer.

“The past day was the hardest day of my life. I can’t look my wife and kids in the eyes,” Avi Himi says in an interview broadcast on Channel 12 news.

Himi, who announced his resignation earlier this evening, says he had an “intimate connection” with the female lawyer going back three to four years.

“You can’t say I did an indecent act,” he says, insisting the case in question was consensual.

Himi also suggests the timing of the report was suspicious, as he features prominently in protests against the new government’s plans to overhaul the judicial system.

“The timing isn’t coincidental. The timing was intentional and clear — they tried to take me out. They’ll never succeed,” he says.