Ari Shavit resigns amid sexual assault scandal
The Haaretz and Channel 10 journalist, accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and assault, quits his jobs in the two prominent Israeli media organizations.
"I am ashamed for the severe mistakes I made in my treatment of people in general, and women in particular. I am ashamed that I did not treat my wife and children correctly. I am ashamed of the actions I took," Shavit said.
Last week, Jewish Journal reporter Danielle Berrin published a story titled "My sexual assault, and yours: Every woman’s story," in which she detailed a sexual assault she experienced at the hands of an unnamed Israeli journalist in February 2014.
Shortly thereafter, Ari Shavit outed himself as the journalist in question, explaining that he believes he "misconstrued the interaction between us during that meeting." He added that, "Prior to reading Berrin's article, I thought that we had had a friendly conversation that included some flirtation." The two met for an interview while Shavit was in the United States to promote a book he had written.
Berrin responded to Shavit's apology with another Jewish Journal post, in which she stated, "His claim is absurd. The only thing I wanted from Ari Shavit was an interview about his book. No person of sound judgment would have interpreted his advances on me as anything other than unwanted, aggressive sexual contact."
"None of this was flirtation; this was an assault on my dignity and professionalism that frightened and disturbed me," she added.
Shavit further stated on Sunday, "In the past few days I've understood that I was stricken with blindness. For years, I hadn't understood what people were talking about when they spoke of privileged men who don't see the damage they cause others. Now I am starting to understand."
"I take full moral responsibility for my actions and am concluding my employment at the Haaretz newspaper and Channel 10," he continued, "I intend to dedicate more time to being with my family—which is precious to me above all else—and to making a personal correction. I understand that this is not a process that can be done overnight, and I am committed to going through it sincerely. I will do all I can so that I never have to be ashamed of my actions again."
Shavit's resignations and second apology came after another woman, who at the time was employed by US lobbying group J Street, on Sunday accused him, in a story published by Jewish-American news site Forward, of sexually harassing her during a visit to Baltimore in April 2014.
Ran Boker, Ayala Or-El and Raz Shechnik contributed to this report.
