Co-founder and chairman of the ZAKA volunteer emergency response organization Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, 62, died on Wednesday at the geriatric-psychiatric Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem.
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His death comes a year after he attempted suicide over allegations of sexual abuse.
Suspicions against Meshi-Zahav became public when he was accused of sexual assault, rape, and abuse by six people in an April 2021 report by Haaretz daily.
The accusations were also a subject of an episode of Uvda ("Fact") an award-winning investigative journalism program that airs on Channel 12, which also said that allegations against him went back for years.
Given the evidence, reports surfaced that the police planned to arrest him, as some of the cases cited by Haaretz and Uvda were within the statute of limitations.
Meshi-Zahav attempted suicide the morning ahead of the show's airing. He was found unconscious at his home in the Jerusalem suburb of Givat Ze'ev and it was later revealed he tried to hang himself.
He was rushed to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in the capital in critical condition and remained unconscious until his death, Wednesday.
Until the allegations were made public, Meshi-Zaha was revered by all sectors in Israel over his operations within ZAKA – perceived by many as an organization that bridges the gaps between the religious and secular sectors – and was an intended laureate of the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement, which he relinquished when the scandal erupted.
Details of his funeral have yet to be made public. The family has requested the media avoid covering the funeral.
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