Minister to quit over harassment
2006-08-18 18:25
Jerusalem - Israeli justice minister Haim Ramon is to resign from the cabinet, a spokesperson said on Friday, one day after the attorney general decided to indict the minister over accusations of sexual harassment.
Ramon, a close aide of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and a leading member of his centrist Kadima party, will announce his resignation on Sunday.
"The minister has decided to tender his resignation on Sunday in keeping with his decision to renounce his parliamentary immunity," spokesperson Tzahi Moshe told AFP.
Attorney general Menachem Mazuz decided on Thursday to indict Ramon over accusations of sexual harassment lodged by a woman soldier, based on the recommendation of a police investigation launched last month.
The woman reportedly said the justice minister tried "to kiss her in an aggressive manner" during a social gathering at the defence ministry in Tel Aviv, days after the launch of Israel's offensive in Lebanon.
Another woman on Friday claimed in the Maariv newspaper that Ramon had also sexually harassed her three years ago.
- AFP