Ari Shavit Calls New Accusation Against Him ‘Blood Libel’
Ari Shavit, prior to his ‘journey of Tikkun’ Image by Getty Images
Author and journalist Ari Shavit called new sexual assault accusations against him “blood libel” on Israeli army radio station Galatz on Monday.
“This is a blood libel,” he told host Yael Dan in Hebrew. “Murder in cold blood, [the accuser] shed my blood and my daughter’s blood.”
Shavit was responding to an account by an anonymous woman who came forward after his recent Haaretz interview expressing his remorse over sexually assaulting an American journalist in 2014.
The anonymous woman claimed that, while she was dating Shavit’s daughter, Shavit put his hand on the back of her neck and attempted to move her head in for a kiss.
The phrase “blood libel” refers to the allegation that Jews murder Christian children in order to use their blood for ritual ceremonies. These accusations date back to the Middle Ages.
Shavit admitted to sexual misconduct against journalist Danielle Berrin in 2016. Following her allegations, three more women came forward to accuse him of inappropriate touching and other behaviors.
Shavit denied the new allegations made against him, a stark contrast to his previous admissions of guilt.
Juliana Kaplan is a news intern at The Forward. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter, @julianamkaplan
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
