IOC Member Sues Accusers in Israel

(ATR) IOC member in Israel Alex Gilady is suing two women who have claimed he made unwelcomed sexual advances.

The suit filed this week in a Tel Aviv court seeks $580,000 in damages.

In November Oshrat Kotler, a broadcaster at Channel 10, and Neri Livneh, a columnist at Haaretz newspaper, accused Gilady of making the unwanted advances.

"In the lawsuit we deployed all the quotes that were published by them against Mr. Gilady and defined them as coarse, reckless and unfounded slander," says a statement from the attorneys.

Kotler accused Gilady on live TV that he made a sexual proposition to her 20 years ago when she applied for a job at Keshet, the broadcast company founded by Gilady.

Just days after Kotler’s accusations, Livneh wrote a column in Haaretz about an encounter years earlier at Gilady’s home. She says he changed into a robe and then exposed his genitals and told her to "talk to it". Gilady did not deny the accusation at the time, but said it was not connected to business. Livneh says Gilady provided a driver to take her home when she rejected his overture.

After these accusations emerged, an anonymous woman told Channel 10 Gilady raped her years ago at his home. Gilady denies the charge.

"According to Israeli law, it is now up to the defendants to carry the burden of proof, that they spoke the truth and that the law protects them," say attorneys Amir Tytunovich and Efrat Aozulay.

Along with monetary damages, Gilady’s suit against the women seeks "a correction of the severe defamation published by them, or to instruct publication of the judgement - all or part - and this on their expense".

"Kotler and Livneh did this, apparently, to ‘hitch a ride’ for their own personal gain on the #Metoo movement," according to the lawsuit.

In a Facebook post reported this week, Kotler says everything she claims about her encounter with Gilady is true.

She said "it is very sad that Gilady has chosen to sue instead of apologize as he should have. But if he’s asking for a fight, he will get a fight, and I have no shadow of a doubt who will win in this struggle."

Gilady stepped down from his post at Keshet after the accusations surfaced. He promised legal action at the time.

So far Gilady’s IOC membership has not been affected, although the case is under review by the IOC Ethics Commission. Gilady, 75, was elected to the IOC in 1994, after the dates of the allegations.

Earlier this month Camiel Eurlings resigned as IOC member in The Netherlands. He has been facing continued public pressure over a 2015 assault against his girlfriend. Eurlings avoided criminal prosecution when he and his companion settled the case by mediation.

Reported by Ed Hula.