Israelis horrified by alleged gang rape of teenaged girl by 30 men
Israel Hayom
August 20, 2020
A gruesome sex crime sent shockwaves through Israel on Thursday,
after a 16-year-old girl filed a rape complaint alleging she was
assaulted by over 30 men while on vacation in the southern resort city
of Eilat.
The Israel Police said an investigation was underway. According to Channel 12 News,
several suspects were arrested and at least one of them has implicated
himself in the case, saying that the men lined up outside the girl's
hotel room, waiting their turn to rape her, while eyewitnesses failed to
intervene.
A police official said that the suspect implicated in the case, a
27-year-old man from northern Israel, was arrested after a series of
text messages between him and the girl revealed there was video footage
of the alleged rape.
He confirmed that the girl was intoxicated but claimed that that the
hotel's security cameras would prove that men stood in line outside her
room as she called them into the room one by one.
"This is shocking, there is no other word. This is not only a crime
against the girl, this is a crime against humanity itself that is worthy
of all censure. Those responsible must be brought to justice," Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted.
Blue and White leader and PM-designate Benny Gantz said, "I've been
trying – and failing – to understand: What is a man who is standing on a
crowded line with dozens of others, on the way to a room where a young,
intoxicated girl is staying, trying to prove?
"The police investigation is still underway, but it's important that I
convey a message to those who participated or bore witness to this case
or others: The only thing you've proven is what depravity of your soul
and morality you are capable of. Before the criminal aspect, there is a
moral soul-searching that must be done here. And to the complainant,
it's important that I say: My heart is with you, you are not alone."
Tourism Minister Assaf Zamir tweeted, "Everyone is talking about
elections but I can't stop thinking about this rape case. About 30 men
raping a 16-year-old girl. This is beyond horrifying. We have to
prosecute them to the full extent of the law – I know, everyone will say
that. Most of all I'm just stunned by this brutality and by the thought
that people capable of such things are walking among us."
Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked took to Facebook, writing, "The
brutal rape in Eilat is an appalling crime that reflects moral
bankruptcy among some in Israeli society. This girl's youth was robbed
by animals. Action against them should be swift and aggravated."
Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz said, "Stop saying they 'had sex' with
her. Dozens of men with one girl is gang rape. This type of abuse in a
public venue without anyone intervening (!) is not just a crime by this
sickening group but a much bigger, much deeper social problem."
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi issued a statement calling for a
swift police investigation. "We must all do some serious soul-searching
on how this could have possibly happened in our midst," he said.
Orit Sulitzeanu, director of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers
in Israel, said the case demonstrates "rape culture," a term used to
describe a social situation in which sexual violence is treated as the
norm and victims are blamed for their own assaults.
"We're talking about dozens of adults, grown men, who thought doing
this was okay, that it would be 'fun.' This is rape culture, plain and
simple," she told Radio 103FM.
"This is so horrifying it renders you speechless. This is probably
the most extreme [sex crime] in Israel's history. It also raises a lot
of questions, chiefly – how is it that none of those involved understood
this was rape? That this was criminal exploitation? Thirty men – no one
thought twice?" she said.
The case sparked a social media storm.
"Why do I live in a country where 30 men rape a 16-year-old girl and
all anyone can talk about is the damn elections?" one twitter user
wrote.
"Thirty men don't 'have sex' with a teenager. They rape her. Stop calling this 'sex,'" another wrote.
"Thirty men raped a teenaged girl. None of them thought to help her
and stop it. It's time we take a long, hard look in the mirror," a
Facebook user wrote.
Morning show hosts lambast the men as "animals" and expressed utter
shock over the fact that none of those involved thought to stop what
more than one anchorperson called "torture."
"Who are you people, actually standing in line outside a hotel room
to rape a teenager? Who are you people, standing in line outside a hotel
room knowing a teenaged girl is being raped in there and doing nothing
to stop it? Who raised you?!?" asked Echo99 Radio host Aviad Kisos.
"Let's call it what it is, okay? The men who did this have
annihilated any chance this girl had to grow up and lead a normal life.
They murdered her soul. That makes them nothing less than murderers," he
asserted.
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