Daniel Sonnenfeld 03/16/2021
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, who co-founded the emergency response organization, is under investigation for a long list of alleged sexual assaults
At the beginning of the month, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, the co-founder of the world-renowned emergency response organization ZAKA, was named as this year’s recipient of the prestigious Israel Prize. But then accusations against him began to surface.
A Haaretz exposé last Thursday quoted women and men who accused Meshi-Zahav of sexually assaulting them. More accusers have come forward since, and the Israel Police said Sunday that it had opened an investigation into the allegations against him. Israeli media is now reeling with report after report, detailing accusations, raising questions about past investigations that were opened by the police, only to be closed, and wondering how these assaults could have continued over a period of decades. Many in the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community say that Meshi-Zahav’s alleg