Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom on Sunday announced his retirement from political life. The Attorney General has decided on Sunday to instruct police to resume investigation of allegations that were filed against Shalom in March 2014.
“I am disgusted with the path of suffering I have endured, as has my family, my wife, my children and my elderly mother,” Shalom said in a statement, adding, “For 23 years, I have served the public faithfully as MK and as minister in various ministries out of a sense of mission and a desire to promote important social and public causes. My family supports me fully, but there is no justification for the price required of them. In these circumstances I have decided to resign my duties as minister and as member of Knesset.”
The Talmud, in Moed Katan 17a, would agree with Minister Shalom: “Said R. Huna, At [one of the Synods at] Usha they made a regulation that if the Av Beit Din (Heb: head of the court) committed an offense, he was not to be publicly ostracized, but someone was to tell him, Save your dignity and remain at home. Should he offend again, they ostracized him, because [otherwise there would be] a desecration of the Name [of God].”
Of course, had the minister followed the Talmud at the beginning rather than the end of his career, he would probably have fared much better.
Channel 10 News released on Sunday evening eyewitness testimony of Shalom’s bodyguard—albeit a guard who had only worked for him a short while. The guard related two occasions when he noticed Minister Shalom involved in misconduct, once with a ministry employee. The bodyguard approached police in 2014, following news of complaints against Shalom.
Left-wing Meretz MKs Zahava Gal-On, Michal Rozin and Tamar Zandberg said in response that Shalom’s resignation is a victory for the norms required of elected officials in Israel, but added that Silvan Shalom’s resignation should not absolve the Attorney General of his duty to order police to summon the outgoing minister for questioning regarding the evidence against him. They insisted that, given the gravity of the accusations, the AG is duty bound to prosecute even if no complaint is filed.
MK Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist camp-Labor) said in response: “It’s a good thing that Silvan did not wait to retire. On a personal level he did the right thing.”
Since the initial publication of the new case, by Ha’aretz, more women have raised similar claims against Shalom in various media. Last Friday, Shalom’s office stated the allegations had “never happened.” On Sunday night Police presented to Weinstein claims raised by women against Shalom during his presidential run, in 2014, along with the allegations that appeared in recent days. Police plan to summon security guards and chauffeurs who worked for the minister, because in some cases it was argued that the misconduct took place in the ministerial car or in hotels.