It can only be good for the secretaries

February 4, 2007 - 2:23 PM by Sarah

OneJerusalem.com explains how the recent verdict against Haim Ramon is having repercussions for the average Israeli workplace:

Just a kiss? Yes, but what a kiss! The reverberations are still being felt around the Israeli media as well as political circles. Ramon’s seemingly innocent gesture (or so he thought) will be regretted forever by the man who some thought might one day even become prime minister of the State of Israel. Obviously, the three judges, two women and one man, who presided over the case didn’t think Ramon’s kiss, involving the provocative use of his tongue, was so innocent. In fact, quite the contrary!

Beginning with the political downfall of another prominent politician, Yitzchak Mordechai, sexual misconduct is beginning to become something that many Israeli men are now very much aware of and fearful of as well. Previously, such an act would have gone unnoticed and little, if any mention of it would have reached the media, let alone the general public. With Israeli President Moshe Katsav about to be indicted for a number of sex crimes, including rape, the issue of sexual harassment and misconduct is now making Israeli men, including high level managers of corporations fearful that their secretaries, telephone receptionists, and other female employees may someday “blow the whistle” on seemingly innocent gestures made in the past – perhaps even the immediate past.

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