Police to investigate Jewish Home MK for sexual harassment

Police said Thursday they will launch a probe into allegations that Jewish Home lawmaker Nissan Slomiansky sexually harassed several women, amid increasing calls by Knesset members for him to resign.

After denying the allegations, Slomiansky issued an apology later Thursday, saying he would personally ask for forgiveness if he knew who his accusers are.

“I never meant to hurt any woman or man, and if any woman was harmed or felt uncomfortable as a result of my behavior, I apologize, and I would personally apologize from the bottom of my heart if I only knew who she is,” Slomiansky said in a statement Thursday evening.

Earlier Thursday, Slomiansky was named, after weeks of rumors, as the party member accused of sexual harassment in a Facebook post alleging multiple complaints against him. In his initial response, Slomiansky denied “ever assaulting women,” and said his “well-known loving nature may have been misinterpreted.”

Police were now trying to gather testimony from seven women to hear their claims and see if they are prepared to press charges, Channel 2 reported.

Among the women who will be asked to give police statements should the probe progress are Rebbetzin Yehudit Shila, the founder of Takana, an organization that handles sexual allegations against figures in the national-religious world, the current head of the organization Hagit Moria, and Army Radio reporter Hadas Shteif, Army Radio reported Thursday.

Also Thursday, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and a number of other lawmakers from both the coalition and opposition called for Slomiansky to step down from the Knesset in order to “clarify” the sexual harassment claims against him.

“In these circumstances, I call on Slomiansky to clarify these claims outside of the Knesset walls,” Edelstein told Army Radio. “For the dignity of the Knesset and all of us I call on him to do this from outside of the Knesset.”

Following an investigation by a team of rabbis affiliated with the religious Zionist party, including Safed Chief Rabbi and religious Zionist heavyweight Shmuel Eliyahu, Slomiansky, 70, was expected to step down from his position as head of the Knesset Justice and Law Committee, Army Radio said earlier Thursday.

Edelstein and other lawmakers said Slomiansky should resign altogether as a Knesset member and if the allegations are shown to be false, he could run for reelection at a future date.

“There are very simple ways to take a break [from public service] and if his innocence is proved then he will return fully,” Edelstein said.

Jewish Home MK Shuli Muallem-Refaeli agreed with the Knesset speaker, saying there should be no place for sexual harassment in public service.

“There is no way of getting out of the fact that my friend Nissan Slomiansky must step down from his work in the Knesset in order to clarify [the allegations],” she told Israel Radio.

Responding on Twitter, Meretz chairwoman Zahava Galon wrote, “It would be wonderful if you could keep your loving nature in your trousers.” She also called for Slomiansky to step down.

Two weeks ago, the Jewish Home party was rocked by allegations swirling on social media that a senior party member had sexually assaulted women over a period of several years.

Posting on Facebook, Jewish Home activist Chagit Moriah-Gibor said she and several other women were collecting testimony against a lawmaker who was known to have been “assaulting women for years already.”

Saying that no victims had been willing to lodge an official complaint, she urged women to come forward, though she did not name the lawmaker.

Following the post, Jewish Home chair Naftali Bennett spoke with Slomianky, who denied any wrongdoing, the party said in a statement.

Bennett too urged anyone who may have been harmed to come forward and lodge a complaint.

Speaking to Army Radio Thursday, Moriah-Gibor said she felt “a big sense of relief” that Slomiansky had finally been named, but expected him to resign from the Knesset rather than just step down as a committee chair.

Rumors of inappropriate behavior by the Slomianky first surfaced before the last election in March 2015, according to Hebrew media reports. In the weeks before the vote, the party chiefs were reportedly informed of the allegations by women who had worked with the lawmaker in the past.

However, senior party officials were unable to convince any of the women to file a complaint with police.

This is not the first time a Jewish Home lawmaker has faced allegations of sexual harassment.

In November 2015, Yinon Magal resigned from the Knesset over sexual assault claims. In February, the Tel Aviv district attorney’s office announced it halted the probe into Magal after police said they had not found enough evidence to recommend an indictment.

Police had probed Magal on suspicion that he harassed female subordinates while working as a journalist before entering politics. During the investigation, police gathered testimony from women who had worked for Magal over the years, including when he was editor of the Walla news website.

“Yinon Magal resigned for much less than Slomiansky,” Moriah-Gibor told Army Radio Thursday.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.