Israeli Minister May Face Assault Charges

Police on Sunday recommended that Yitzhak Mordechai, a senior and popular member of the Israeli government, be indicted on charges of sexually assaulting three women during the past eight years.

The case began last month with allegations by a 23-year-old female secretary who worked for Mordechai. It mushroomed as other women came forward with accusations.

Declaring his innocence, Mordechai, a decorated career army officer before he entered politics in 1996, said Sunday that he welcomed a trial as a chance to clear his name.

“I intend to fight with all my strength for the truth and my reputation,” the 55-year-old retired general said in a written statement. He added that if the case goes to trial, he will resign from the government, where he serves as transport minister and deputy prime minister.

If prosecuted and found guilty, Mordechai could face up to seven years in prison. His is the latest scandal to jar the upper echelons of Israeli politics, further eroding public trust in the government. However, most of the other cases involve money and corruption, not sexual violence.

Women’s rights activists, who have long complained of rampant sexual inequities in the military that shaped Mordechai, praised the swift police investigation and said the case will encourage women to stand up for fair treatment. Israel is one of the few countries in the world where young women complete compulsory military service alongside young men, and many of these women have said that they felt constrained from speaking out against sexual harassment and abuse.

“It’s time that men understood that they cannot use their force, their status and their authority to sexually harass and hurt women,” said Rina Bar-Tal, chair of the Israeli Women’s Network.

Mordechai played a key role in last year’s national elections and helped take Prime Minister Ehud Barak to a sweeping victory over the incumbent. He had served as defense minister in the previous, right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu but quit and formed his own centrist party. He then became the first Sephardic Jew to make a serious run for the premiership. His decision in the end to abandon the race tipped the balance in Barak’s favor.

In recent months, though, a seemingly dispirited Mordechai has not been much of a player in the government. And his Center Party wields minimal influence.

His departure, if it came to pass, would not jeopardize Barak’s ruling coalition. But it would prevent Mordechai, as a dove with strong military credentials, from galvanizing support for peace agreements that Israel is attempting to reach with its Arab neighbors.

Police investigators said Sunday that their five-week probe turned up evidence credible enough for Mordechai to be indicted on three counts of “indecent acts committed with force.” One involves the 23-year-old secretary, who alleged that Mordechai attacked and groped her in his Transport Ministry office. The second involves a married woman who said Mordechai attacked her when she went to his home after he offered to help her find a job in 1996, when he was defense minister. The third alleged incident also reportedly occurred at his home, in 1992.

In contrast to other embattled politicians, the gruff Mordechai, who is married to a former employee 27 years his junior, did not seem to have many supporters rallying to his defense Sunday. Israeli television made a point of his isolation, noting that he was holed up at his home for hours Sunday night without a single visitor.

“It is a pity,” said President Ezer Weizman, who narrowly escaped prosecution earlier this month on fraud and bribery charges. “But the law is the law, and it doesn’t matter how senior we are and what our status is.”

It is now up to state prosecutors to decide whether to go to trial, a determination likely to be made after Passover, which begins Wednesday night.