Confusion and accusations dominated a dispute on Wednesday between Dr. Orly Innes, who lodged a sexual harassment complaint against former police chief candidate Cmdr. Uri Bar Lev, and the Public Security Ministry.
The Public Security Ministry announced on Wednesday night that Innes had refused to sign an agreement to extend her employment contract "despite repeated requests," leading to her being sacked from her position.RELATED:Bar-Lev accuser 'Aleph' revealed as Dr. Orly InnesPID says sufficient evidence exists to indict Bar-LevIn an embarrassing u-turn, soon after the announcement was made, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said he had not been aware of the decision to fire her, and reinstated Innes to her position, saying he needed time to "study what had happened."Earlier on Wednesday, the Public Security Ministry said Innes had been fired from her position as director of the City Without Violence program because her contract ran out in November and she would not sign an extension.
A ministry spokeswoman said, "unfortunately, until today Dr. Innes has not signed the extension, and hence it is clear she could not carry out any activity for the ministry without a contract. We expect Dr. Innes to respond to our request to sign the agreement as soon as possible."
But Innes, whose complaint against Bar Lev did not end up in an indictment against the senior officer after PID investigators said it lacked convincing evidence, said she had been fired as part of a larger plot to slander her.
Innes also lodged a sexual harassment complaint against the former director-general of the Public Security Ministry Hagai Peleg, leading to his resignation. "Now, in order to complete the task of 'assassinating me,' it was decided to fire me," Innes said in a statement. "Unfortunately, this is what happens to a victim of a crime who exposes corruption in a state of the rule of law," she added.