JERUSALEM: An adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tendered his resignation following allegations of sexual assault.
David Keyes, Netanyahu’s spokesman with the foreign press, formally resigned on Wednesday, nearly three months after taking a leave of absence after he was accused of sexual assault by at least a dozen women.
Keyes issued a statement saying he had “decided to pursue new opportunities in the private sector.”
Keyes has denied the assault accusations, saying all were “deeply misleading and many of them are categorically false.”
Israel’s Civil Service Commission closed an investigation into the allegations last month without taking any disciplinary action against Keyes.
Netanyahu thanked Keyes in a statement “for his great contribution to Israel’s information effort.”
Netanyahu’s adviser accused of sexual assault resigns
Netanyahu’s adviser accused of sexual assault resigns
- David Keyes, Netanyahu’s spokesman with the foreign press, formally resigned on Wednesday
- Keyes issued a statement saying he had “decided to pursue new opportunities in the private sector”
Israel army issues new evacuation warnings in Lebanon
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on Tuesday, including a warning for residents in two southern Beirut neighborhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of imminent military action.
“Urgent warning to the residents of Lebanon, specifically in the villages which names are shown. For your safety you must evacuate your homes immediately,” said a statement by the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee on Telegram, which listed 50 locations.
Many of the locations were across the south of Lebanon, which Israel regularly targets with the aim of hitting Hezbollah infrastructure.
“You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future,” he told the residents of southern Beirut neighborhoods Ghobeiry and Haret Hreik in another evacuation warning.
Lebanon’s government on Monday took the unprecedented step of banning Hezbollah’s military and security activity, prompting the Iran-backed group to lash out at the decision.
Hezbollah is represented in both the government and parliament, and the move came hours after it announced it had launched rockets and drones toward Israel early Monday to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli attacks.
Israel bombarded Beirut’s southern suburbs and dozens of villages in south Lebanon on Monday in response, vowing to make the group pay a “heavy price.”
The Lebanese health ministry said the strikes killed at least 31 people and wounded at least 149.
