AIPAC Scraps Ari Shavit Events Amid Scandal
Image by Getty Images
— The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has canceled Israeli journalist Ari Shavit’s participation in its events after two women accused Shavit of sexual assault.
AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, confirmed the decision to JTA after Mondoweiss, an anti-Israel publication, reported that a Nov. 10 San Francisco Bay Area event jointly put on by AIPAC and the local Jewish Community Relations Council had been canceled. A JCRC website link still advertises the event, but the web page itself has no content.
The first allegation against Shavit came in an Oct. 19 article in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles by reporter Danielle Berrin, who wrote that Shavit assaulted her during a 2014 interview. A second assault allegation, from an unnamed staff member at the dovish pro-Israel lobby J Street, was reported Sunday in the Forward.
Shavit announced he was temporarily leaving journalism due to the allegations.
AIPAC is one of several major Jewish organizations to drop Shavit following the allegations. Hillel International, the campus Jewish group, suspended a speaking tour by Shavit last week. J Street told the Forward that following the accusation against its staffer, it has not allowed him to speak at its events.
The Jewish Federations of North America told JTA that it would have canceled any Shavit events had they been scheduled.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
