Some of the victims quoted in an investigative article are considering contacting the police on their own initiative and filing a complaint. It is also estimated that the police will contact the same authorities themselves during the coming week, who testified that they also fell victim to the actions of Golden Silk.
As you may recall, according to the testimonies published in the Haaretz investigation, gold silk allegedly attacked children, boys, girls and women. It was also alleged that Meshi Zahav took advantage of the willingness of many ultra-Orthodox young men to volunteer for the ZAK in order to sexually exploit them. Among other things, it was written that Meshi Zahav used to “pay” his victims with money and gifts he gave them – and through sexual encounters with escort girls. To some of these encounters, Golden Silk attached one of his relatives, according to one of the testimonies published in Haaretz.
Winners of the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement 5731: Yehuda Meshi Zahav and Yosef Ciechanover // Archive Photo: Gregory Bado
Following the opening of the police investigation, Meshi Zahav announced that he was giving up the Israel Prize. In a letter sent by Golden Silk to ZAKA volunteers, he wrote: “I am an 11th generation Jerusalemite. Grandson and grandson of the burglars. This is what I announced eighteen years ago when I was honored to bring a beacon to the glory of the State of Israel. I was not alone standing there on that mountain. “Thousands of volunteers in the organization that I was privileged to establish and manage stood with me there, and the entire Israeli society applauded them.”
“And now that Zedim has risen up and plotted a plot, even now I am not alone. I stand. An entire organization, which broke through the walls and built bridges and learning respect and love between the sectors and communities, is at stake. And I am what I am, a loyal messenger of volunteers of all genders, ethnicities and religions. – In Israel and around the world – The organization’s volunteers of the organization lied to me like the apple of my eye.
First, I need a lot of mental strength for this struggle, and I look with sorrow at the damage that may be done to the important organization, its activities and its four thousand dedicated volunteers.
“As a first step, I would like to relinquish the honor bestowed upon me by the decision to award me the Israel Prize in recognition of my work in an organization that is nothing but a sign of honor to the last volunteers.