2024-01-30T17:20:23+00:00
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/ Hebrew media revealed on Tuesday that the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed a consular official after she was convicted of “harassment and sexual relations” with a number of female employees at its diplomatic mission in the US state of Chicago.
The Times of Israel and Yedioth Ahronoth newspapers reported that a disciplinary committee at the Israeli Foreign Ministry ordered the dismissal of former consular and administrative affairs officer Michal Keren David, 40, for “sexually harassing and engaging in inappropriate relationships with at least four young women who worked with her at the mission,” during her tenure between October 2021 and April 2022.
The two newspapers reported that Keren David admitted that she “sexually harassed female employees and behaved in an inappropriate sexual manner,” in violation of the code of conduct for a government employee.
Keren David, born in 1984, served as consul in Chicago. She has been suspended since April 2022.
The committee ordered Keren David’s permanent dismissal from the Foreign Ministry, a one-month pay cut, and a ban from government service in any capacity for eight years.
Keren David’s attorney, Ayala Honigman, said it was difficult for her to agree to the plea deal, but “she did it to open a new chapter in her life and she is not interested in working in the State Department and civil service.”
“I have worked for Israel for 16 years and I am disappointed with the behavior of its officials,” the employee accused of harassment said during the hearings. “No State Department official came to hear me. I agreed to the plea deal because I want to put the disciplinary proceedings behind me and start a new life.”