AN opposition Israeli politician has called on prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dismiss his ambassador to the United States for failing to report sexual assault allegations against a top Netanyahu aide.
Karin Elharrar said Ron Dermer should be recalled from Washington for not reporting the warnings he received about David Keyes, Netanyahu’s spokesman to foreign media.
Last week, Julia Salazar, a candidate for New York’s state senate, accused Keyes of sexually assaulting her five years ago.
Wall Street Journal reporter Shayndi Raice tweeted she too had a “terrible encounter” with Keyes before he became Netanyahu’s spokesman, describing him as a “predator” and someone who had “absolutely no conception of the word ‘no’”.
At least a dozen other women have since come forward with varying allegations, some of which are
said to have been committed since Keyes took up his current position in early 2016.
Keyes, 34, denies the allegations, saying all “are deeply misleading and many of them are categorically false”.
But the scandal has since spread to the rest of Netanyahu’s inner circle, previously rocked with accusations of sexual improprieties.
Natan Eshel, a former top aide, was forced to resign in 2012 after allegations emerged that he harassed a woman in the prime minister’s office, including taking pictures up her skirt.
Over the weekend, Dermer, who was perhaps Netanyahu’s closest associate before taking office in Washington, confirmed he was warned in late 2016 by New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, then of the Wall Street Journal, about Keyes’ questionable behaviour toward women.
The New York Times reported that Stephens, who said he had barred Keyes from visiting the Wall Street Journal offices because of harassment complaints of women there against him, warned
Dermer that “Keyes posed a riskto women in Israeli government offices”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel