Eshel testifies over alleged harassment

PMO chief of staff arrives at the civil commision's investigation's branch after extending his leave from office.

Nathan Eshel 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Nathan Eshel 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
The Prime Minister’s Office’s chief of staff, Natan Eshel, arrived Tuesday morning at the Civil Service Commission’s Investigations Branch for questioning over the alleged harassment of a female staffer in his office.
Eshel, who began his tenure at the Prime Minister’s Office in December 2010, extended his leave from office on Monday after legal advisers told him to do so pending a probe into complaints against him.
Three senior staffers brought the case to the attorney-general’s office last month, but not the alleged victim of abuse, who has declined to cooperate with the investigations in order to maintain privacy.
The Civil Service Commission is carrying out the investigation after Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein decided not to refer the case to police.
The Prime Minister’s Office has said Eshel’s alleged harassment was not sexual in nature, though Channel 1 news reported the chief of staff took pictures of the female staffer, known only as “R.,” from under her skirt.