Reported sex scandal rocks Transportation Ministry

Civil Service Commission claims an office employee was pressured into taking part in sexual activities with two senior staffers

The Civil Service commission filed a claim last month against two senior Transportation Ministry employees over sexual activities and harassment that allegedly took place within the ministry, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday.

Former ministry deputy chairman Alex Langer and senior ministry employee Iris Barakat are suspected of coercing a ministry employee into taking part in sexual activities, according to the commission investigators.

Inspectors believe Barakat sent a number of suggestive messages on Langer’s behalf. The employee, whose name is being kept under a gag order, was reported to have received a number of text messages from Barakat, including a message which read “Alex says you look great, Alex also dreamed of you.”

Barakat also managed to convince the woman to meet with Langer on a number of different occasions.

The claim states that in some of the meetings, Barakat and Langer pressured the employee into taking part in sexual activities that involved all three of them. After these incidents, Barakat would regularly message the woman and request she keep quiet about the affair. At a certain point, the woman moved to a different division within the ministry and cut her ties with Barakat and Langer.

“The harassment story is no secret but we didn’t realize its extent,” a senior ministry employee said. “Two of the subjects mentioned specifically in the claim are still working in the ministry, it was very embarrassing for them both.”

Langer firmly denied the allegations against him. “It is hard for me to understand the investigation that someone in the Civil Service has suddenly began to conduct,” he told Yedioth. “I am sure that in the end this whole story will prove untrue and will be removed from the public agenda.”

There was no response from Barakat.