Israeli journalist alleges former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sexually harassed her
Published November 19, 2017
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert seen at the District Court in Tel Aviv where he was sentenced to six years in prison on May 13, 2014. (Yotam Ronen/Flash90)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli journalist has alleged that former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sexually harassed her.
Army Radio reporter Hadas Shteif on Saturday reportedly said at an event at which she spoke in central Israel that the alleged incident took place many years ago at a studio at the Israel Broadcasting Authority.
She said that Olmert pushed her up against a wall and whispered in her ear and then licked her ear. She said she immediately pushed him away.
Olmert, who was freed from an Israeli prison in July after serving two-thirds of a 27-month sentence for corruption, has denied that the incident took place.
Shteif later said in a post on Facebook that two other women had messaged her, saying that they also had been sexually harassed by Olmert. She also posted that she had told several people about Olmert’s actions at the time of the incident.
Olmert’s former secretary, Rachael Risby-Raz, in a post on Facebook following Shteif’s accusation said that the former prime minister respects women and that he is “not that kind of person” who would sexually harass a woman.
Shteif made the accusation in response to an audience question which asked if she ever had been sexually harassed.
