Intelligence Services Minister Elazar Stern caused an uproar Sunday after revealing that as head of the Israel Defense Forces' Manpower Directorate he made sure that anonymous complaints, including those of sexual harassment against military officers, would get shredded, implying that they would not even be read or evaluated.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
In an interview with Radio 103FM, Stern, who is a member of Yesh Atid, said that while he would never object to looking into sexual misconduct allegations "if such complaints came with names," he thought that the culture of anonymous letters caused too great a damage.
"We cannot support a culture of anonymous accusations. Not at the expense of encouraging the complaint," he said.
Stern added that while he led the IDF directorate, he would go out of his way so that female soldiers could feel comfortable filing such complaints. Nevertheless, with regard to anonymous complaints, "the paper shredder worked really fast," he said.
In his interview, Stern commended the special panel that vetted and approved the Shin Bet security agency's deputy director nomination as its chief.
R. sailed through the confirmation process despite an anonymous letter that accused him of two unspecified incidents of misconduct.
While initially acknowledging that he would see to have anonymous complaints were shredded, by the end of his interview, Stern said he did not remember particular instances.
Appalled by the intelligence services minister's remarks, Hagit Peer – who heads the Na'amat women's organization – said that the fact that a publicly appointed government minister chose to spread such a message to the Israeli public was "an embarrassment and a disgrace."
Stern "should remember that Israeli law requires that sexual assault complaints be thoroughly investigated, even when they are anonymous," she said. "Instead of showing a good example, minister Stern is proud of his unenlightened policy."
The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel said Stern "boasts of alleged support and encouragement of sexual harassment complaints, but his actions prove the opposite." It said such behavior promotes a toxic culture of sexual exploitation in the IDF.
"We call on Stern to apologize to the rank-and-file soldiers and commanders who trusted him and whose stories were shredded and disappeared. In addition, the IDF must address the issue and clarify to the public what has changed in the way it handles testimonies."
Knesset member Miri Regev also criticized Stern for failing to appropriately address the complaints and "simply shredding them" instead.
"I would not expect more from Elazar Stern, a shallow man, a chauvinist, who lacks values and brings shame upon the kippah he wears on his head," she said. "I did, however, expect, Meretz' feminist choir, the Labor Party, Blue and White, Yesh Atid, and all the enlightened Knesset members, all women that support women, to say something, to speak out against this shocking confession… What a disgrace."
Shortly after the interview, Stern took to Twitter to clarify that "as a human being, father of daughters, officer, and elected official, I am deeply disturbed by each and every sexual harassment and believe that Israeli society and law enforcement are obligated to have zero tolerance on such an essential issue."
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
