Report: Senior PMO official accused of harassment

Army Radio reports Justice Ministry looking into allegations official read personal messages, followed young female staffer.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem 311 (R) (photo credit: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters)
Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem 311 (R)
(photo credit: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters)
Authorities are looking into allegations that a senior member of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office harassed and stalked a young female staffer in the Prime Minister's Office, Army Radio reported Tuesday morning.
According to the report, the senior official would look through the young woman's personal email, text messages and follow her after work hours. After an overseas trip, the harassment reportedly worsened.
Other members of the PMO staff reported the behavior to legal authorities after the woman in question refused to file a complaint herself. According to the report, the Justice Ministry confirmed it received the accusations and were looking into them.
Following the receipt of information in the Justice Ministry, Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein ordered an initial investigation into the veracity of the allegations, the ministry told Army Radio. "At this stage, no factual basis has been found and no investigation opened," the ministry reportedly said.
The ministry's public service investigative unit told Army Radio that it is looking into the information it received according to instructions by the attorney-general.
Responding to the reports, the Prime Minister's Office said that no complaint had been filed against the official within the office and that it was "only an investigation into gossip."