Kiryat Malachi Mayor Motti Malka reached a plea bargain with the state prosecution on Thursday over charges of sexual misconduct and violation of building regulations. Malka was to plead guilty to the acts, resign from his post and perform community service, but would not serve time in jail.
Police sources criticized the deal, saying there was enough concrete evidence to press charges and take the matter to court and Malka to prison, which would serve to deter other people in positions of power from doing the same.
In addition to community service Malka was ordered to compensate the women he hurt with large sums of money, and was banned from running for municipal office.
Malka, his deputy mayor, and five others, including the mayor’s son, were arrested in May on charges of repeatedly raping a female subordinate over a lengthy period of time.
At the time Malka denied the charges against him, saying the sexual encounters were consensual. Later, the rape charges were changed to charges of sexual misconduct.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
Philip Podolsky contributed to this report.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
