Interior Minister Silvan Shalom is the quintessential product of old-fashioned, male-dominated politics, codes of conduct and power centers. That is why he did not quit politics 18 months ago, in March of 2014, when it was first reported that attorney general Yehuda Weinstein was investigating a complaint by a former office worker who claimed that Shalom had sexually harassed her 15 years ago. Shalom categorically denied the accusations at the time, claiming they were an attempt to scuttle his run for the presidency of the state. 

Shalom did bow out of the race for the presidency two months later, but continued to serve in government and in the Knesset. At the time, Shalom argued that the fact that the attorney general had decided not to pursue the case against him meant that his name had been cleared. But, in fact, the case was closed because another woman who had worked with him, and whom he had also allegedly harassed sexually, refused to file a complaint.

Shalom stayed on in politics and after the last elections, in March 2015, was appointed minister of the interior and a member of the foreign affairs and defense restricted ministerial Cabinet. But he failed to understand that he was still in danger, that a cloud was still hanging over his head and doubts about him remained. And just like a loaded gun placed on the table in the first act, it was clearly going to fire later on and twist the plot.

That is exactly what happened on Dec. 16, when Haaretz published details of testimony provided to the police by the employee who had refused at the time to file a complaint against Shalom. In the less than two days since then, testimonies have popped up of other women who claim to have been in Shalom’s presence in recent years and fallen prey to harassment. Detailed descriptions of his alleged escapades are now everywhere, so that even if no one files a police complaint against Shalom — they cannot be allowed to simply vanish into public thin air.