Modeling agent accused of sexual assault to be freed after pleading to lesser charges

Modeling agent Shai Avital is convicted by the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court in a plea bargain between him and the State Attorney’s Office on charges of providing drugs to a minor and assault.

Avital is sentenced to six months in prison and a fine, but since he already served six months in detention while awaiting extradition to Israel from the Netherlands, he will not return to prison.

Avital was originally indicted on charges of sexual assault against two women, after some 30 women filed complaints against him for sexual harassment and assault. Most of the complaints against him were dismissed, however, since they were filed after the statute of limitations expired.

Avital, 47, was extradited from the Netherlands in 2022 after spending over a year on the run while Israeli police sought to question him over the dozens of complaints of sexual assault.