Shaked: Opposition using judicial sex scandal for ‘ugly campaign’ against me

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked hits back at an “unconstrained, false and inciting attack” on her, a day after coming under fire when a sex scandal involving the appointment of judges was revealed.

Opposition figures assailed Shaked, blaming her for a “toxic environment” in the legal system after it was exposed that Israel Bar Association head Efi Nave allegedly helped appoint a female judge in exchange for sexual relations, and tried to promote a male judge in return for sex with the judge’s wife.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked attends an Israeli Bar Association conference in Jerusalem on January 17, 2019. (Noam Rivkin Fenton/Flash90)

At a Bar Association seminar on Jewish law in Jerusalem, Shaked says the accusations are “false attacks and lies.”

“The most disappointing attack is the attack by female lawmakers from the left-wing,” she says. “We have our political differences, but I viewed them as colleagues. They are all women, and that is my disappointment.

“They are using the latest affair for an ugly and personal political campaign. The political attacks from the left won’t deter me.”

Rejecting calls to step down, Shaked says she’ll continue serving as justice minister “four more years, until I complete the revolution I have started.”