Assaulted journalist lauds Shavit for apology letter

Danielle Berrin, the US journalist who accused Haaretz columnist Ari Shavit of sexual assault leading to his eventual resignation and apology earlier today, calls his statement “admirable.”

“I’m grateful for Ari Shavit’s powerful, honest statement. His resolution to do ‘heshbon hanefesh’ – an accounting of the soul – is admirable,” she writes on Twitter.

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

An earlier mea culpa by Shavit in which he described the encounter as a misunderstanding was panned by Berrin last week as “absurd.”

Shavit issued a statement resigning his posts at Haaretz and Channel 10 and expressing regret over his actions, after a former J Street staffer came forward and said he sexually harassed her as well.

“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. For years, I did not understand what people were talking about when they spoke of privileged men who fail to see the damage they are causing others. I am now beginning to understand,” he wrote.

The Forward, which published the second woman’s accusation, says J Street stopped inviting Shavit as a speaker in 2014, seemingly after the encounter with the woman, indicating the group may have known about the incident.