A few days after the fifth anniversary of his death, Ha’aretz published an interview with Collette Avital, one of the most celebrated Israeli diplomats of the past generation and only the third woman in the diplomatic corps to attain the rank of ambassador.
The left isn’t left out
For many years, there’s been a rumour, accepted as truth, that Avital had an affair with Peres. She used the interview to deny that and went even further, claiming that Peres had on two occasions made unwanted sexual advances.
In one meeting between them in 1983, she said, “he suddenly pinned me to the door and tried to kiss me”. On another occasion, she was supposed to brief him but found herself being ushered to his hotel room where he waited in pajamas.
In the two weeks since the interview came out, the dynamic which has become so familiar now in the west of re-examining the record of a revered historic figure has played out, complete with reports of other women, so far all anonymous, who claim that Peres did the same to them.
This is particularly awkward for leaders of the Israeli left since Peres isn’t just a former Labour leader, who personified the ideological shift the party made when it embraced engagement and territorial compromise with the Palestinians. And it’s especially difficult for the current Labour leader, Merav Michaeli, who began her public career fighting on behalf of victims of sexual violence.
It took Michaeli four days to respond to the interview and then she tried to thread the needle
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ReplyDeletehttps://www.thejc.com/comment/columnists/as-rabin-is-mourned-do-these-me-too-claims-bury-peres-legacy-1.521752
ReplyDeleteA few days after the fifth anniversary of his death, Ha’aretz published an interview with Collette Avital, one of the most celebrated Israeli diplomats of the past generation and only the third woman in the diplomatic corps to attain the rank of ambassador.
The left isn’t left out
For many years, there’s been a rumour, accepted as truth, that Avital had an affair with Peres. She used the interview to deny that and went even further, claiming that Peres had on two occasions made unwanted sexual advances.
In one meeting between them in 1983, she said, “he suddenly pinned me to the door and tried to kiss me”. On another occasion, she was supposed to brief him but found herself being ushered to his hotel room where he waited in pajamas.
In the two weeks since the interview came out, the dynamic which has become so familiar now in the west of re-examining the record of a revered historic figure has played out, complete with reports of other women, so far all anonymous, who claim that Peres did the same to them.
This is particularly awkward for leaders of the Israeli left since Peres isn’t just a former Labour leader, who personified the ideological shift the party made when it embraced engagement and territorial compromise with the Palestinians. And it’s especially difficult for the current Labour leader, Merav Michaeli, who began her public career fighting on behalf of victims of sexual violence.
It took Michaeli four days to respond to the interview and then she tried to thread the needle