Ari Shavit Accused Of Grabbing, Trying to Kiss Daughter’s Former Partner
Ari Shavit, prior to his ‘journey of Tikkun’ Image by Getty Images
Following an interview with Ari Shavit published in Haaretz last week, in which he referred to various women accusing him of sexual harassment and his subsequent soul-searching, another woman came forward to accuse the journalist of untoward behavior.
The woman’s account, published by the independent Israeli online magazine “Hottest Place in Hell,” details a claim according to which Shavit placed his hand on the back of the complainant’s neck and tried to move her head for a kiss while she was dating his daughter.
“I reminded him that I am of his own daughter’s partner,” she wrote, adding that he responded,“‘That is not what I understood. You’re her ex. I wouldn’t hit on the partner of a friend of mine, especially if I knew they were still together.’”
The author noted she published her story, with details slightly changed and published anonymously, in July 2013.
“For six years she and I have been coping with that painful night, together and separately, sensitively, bravely, through dialogue,” she wrote.
According to the report, Shavit responded to the new allegations: “My daughter’s ex-partner thinks I should disappear forever. Her position is radical and disproportionate. When I made mistakes regarding young women I took full responsibility. I apologized, I suspended myself, I learned lessons. I went and am still going through a process of mending, but the story told here is completely different. There’s nothing between what took place and what is described here. The version changes and evolves. I did not grab her by the neck, I did not try to kiss her, I had no unworthy intentions with regards to her. As it involves my daughter’s private life I will not elaborate any further.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
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