Zehava Gal-On claims sexual harassment

Several female MKs say they received dozens of letters from serial harasser over several years.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
knesset 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
knesset 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Meretz MK Zehava Gal-On stepped forward Wednesday afternoon and told Army Radio that she is one of several female MKs who has been receiving "lust letters" from a serial sexual harasser over the past several years. Earlier Wednesday, Army Radio reported that a female MK, who chose to remain anonymous, had received dozens of harassing letters for over a year. According to the report, the MK was planning to turn to Knesset security in the coming days after relaying to the parliament's chief security officer several of the lewder messages. She claimed that the handwritten letters were sent both to her home and to her office and that a postcard most recently received read: "I am dying to make love to you and cause you to experience a string of orgasms." The MK told Army Radio that at first she had not taken the messages seriously. When she realized, however, that the flow of messages was not abating, she decided to report the harassment. Neither the unnamed MK nor Gal-On knew that the other was being harassed in a similar manner. However, when the story broke, Gal-On said that she knew of other female parliamentarians who had received such letters. Gal-On claimed that she had not revealed the existence of the letters because she did not think that it was "the right way to build a career," and because she was afraid that it would cause "other harassers to leave their burrows." She also said that "there have already been instances where harassers have carried out their threats." She described the author of the letters as a "sophisticated person, who chose the female MKs as a target." She emphasized that he should not be termed "insane" because such a portrayal would detract from the gravity of his deeds.