Major settlement bloc south of Jerusalem chooses new leader
Shlomo Ne’eman elected head of Gush Etzion Regional Council after previous chief resigned over sexual harassment hush payment
Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Residents of a major West Bank settlement bloc south of Jerusalem elected a new council leader on Tuesday night to replace the previous head who resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal.
Shlomo Ne’eman, a former Jewish Agency official and aid to Likud’s Environment Minister Ze’ev Elkin, was elected head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council with 46.4 percent of the vote, beating out Moshe Seville, who has served as acting head for the last three months. Seville scored 36.6% and a third runner-up, Moshe Berniker, gained 16.5% of the votes.
Ne’eman will replace Davidi Perl who formally stepped down at the end of October after allegations that he sexually assaulted a Jerusalem woman and paid her off to keep quiet.
The sprawling bloc, located south and southeast of Jerusalem, is home to some 70,000 people living in more than 20 communities.
Channel 10 television reported in September 2016 that Perl had agreed to pay a reported NIS 200,000 ($53,000) to the 20-year-old woman. His accuser filed a complaint against Perl with the Takana Forum of rabbis charged with uncovering and dealing discreetly with sexual abuse cases in the Israeli nationalist-religious community. In return, the woman withdrew her complaint and Perl agreed to not run for council in any future elections.
Perl protested his innocence, and said he paid the woman solely to protect his family and prevent the accusations becoming public.
Elkin and Likud MK Yehudah Glick were on hand to congratulate Ne’eman at his campaign headquarters in the Alon Shvut settlement.
Blessings also came from Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and MK Moti Yogev, both of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party.
“I have no doubt that under his leadership the Gush will continue to develop and reach new heights,” Ariel said in a statement.
Ne’eman, 43, a resident of the Karmei Tzur settlement, is a father of five. He immigrated to Israel from the Soviet Union at the age of 17 and previously served as a senior adviser to Elkin, before leaving to focus on his election campaign.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
