Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Admits Suffering Childhood Sexual Abuse During U.N. Speech
By ISABEL KERCHNER
Published September 28, 2012
NEW YORK — When the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, pointed to the genital area of a cartoonish diagram of a child from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, he intended to ease wounds that had been festering for many decades. He feared scorn, derision and attacks from adversaries.
Instead, the attention-grabbing performance seems to have created an outpouring of compassion and empathy – including within Israel which is not a place where one typically bears one’s feelings.
Mr. Netanyahu’s diagram was divided into a front and back section. He pointed to the groin region of the diagram as well as the buttock region. “These are the places where I was touched so many years ago,” he said referring to alleged abuse by his commander in the JIDL – or Junior Israeli Defense League. “I now know that it is OK this happened to me and I can move on,” he said.
“These are the places where I was touched so many years ago.”
On Friday, Yudiot Aharonoh, a popular newspaper usually critical of the Israeli prime minister, published an editorial praising his candor. “Speaking openly and publicly about childhood sexual abuse should not be limited to Oprah’s couch or even the United States,” it said. “It is time for Israelis to embrace their feelings; to expose their true selves to their friends and foes alike,” it continued.
Mr. Netanyahu announced that he will begin counseling at Israel’s premier abuse counseling center outside of Tel Aviv and is donating $10,000 to an Israeli sexual abuse awareness program.
At the close of Mr. Netanyahu’s speech, the General Assembly answered him with a rousing standing ovation. The only notable holdout was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, although even he smiled and politely clapped his hands while remaining seated.
