Ya’alon: Stop smearing names of sex crime accusers

Israeli society must do everything to quash attempts to tarnish the reputations of women who lodge sexual harassment complaints, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Tuesday, as the army remains embroiled in a rape scandal around a top general.

Ya’alon, marking International Women’s Day, called on the country to wage an uncompromising war against sexual violence and to protect victims.

It is critical to stamp out attempts to “turn those who complain into the guilty parties,” Ya’alon urged in a statement. “None of us really understands what happens in the soul of a person who has experienced violence, harassment or sexual injury.”

His statement came as the army is weighing whether to continue the suspension of Brig. Gen Ofek Buchris after two female soldiers who served under him said he raped them.

Ya’alon words were likely aimed at critics who have attempted to poke holes in the alleged victims’ stories. Buchris, once thought to be in line for the army’s top position, has maintained his innocence and on Monday underwent a polygraph examination, the results of which have not been published.

A face-to-face confrontation between the officer and at least one of the plaintiffs is expected later this week, Israel Hayom reported.

A petition launched last week in support of Buchris had garnered more than 10,500 supporters as of Tuesday.

However, a week ago, at a special hearing at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, Judge Maya Heller said military prosecutors had presented “sufficient evidence” implicating Buchris.

Buchris’s army career will come to an end even if he and the soldier are found to have engaged in consensual sexual relations, which the IDF bans between officers and those under their command.

 

Ya’alon said society in general and the Israel Defense Forces in particular had made great strides in integrating women and improving their status.

But the battle was still on for women to “integrate more, earn more, and break into the closed societies populated only by men, some of whom are less talented and successful than they are, but who get preference because they are men.”

The defense minister was among many public figures to mark International Women’s Day on Tuesday.

At the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Monday, First Lady Nechama Rivlin hosted leading female figures from Israeli society.

 

 

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report