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Netanyahu's foreign media spokesperson accused of sexual assault
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's foreign media spokesman, David Keyes, has been accused of inappropriate behaviour by multiple women.
On Tuesday, New York State Senate hopeful Julia Salazar claimed on Twitter that she had been a "victim of sexual assault by David Keyes."
Salazar first accused Keyes of sexual assault in 2016 in a private Facebook post which was later deleted.
She said this week that she had decided to speak out after receiving information that the Daily Caller was about to publish an article outing her as the source of the 2016 accusation, which was originally reported anonymously in the Israeli press.
"Before this runs, I want to come forward and confirm that I was a victim of sexual assault by David Keyes – the Prime Minister of Israel's spokesperson to foreign media," she wrote on Twitter.
A second woman, Wall Street Journal reporter Shayndi Raice, came forward hours later and publicly accused Keyes of misconduct.
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"I also had a terrible encounter with David Keyes once and 100% believe [Salazar]. I knew this would come out about him at some point," she wrote on Twitter.
"The man had absolutely no conception of the word 'no.' No matter how often I said no, he would not stop pushing himself on me," Raice continued.
"I was able to extricate myself quickly and it was a very brief and uncomfortable moment but I knew as I walked away I had encountered a predator."
At the time of the 2016 accusation, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office denied the charges on Keyes' behalf.
On Wednesday, an exclusive investigative report by The Times of Israel claimed 12 women have accused Keyes of inappropriate behaviour towards them.
Sources told the Israeli news site that allegations of Keye's inappropriate behaviour toward women was so well-known that he was asked to stay away from certain offices he used to visit in New York.
The sources said allegations of misconduct against Keyes had been made before he was appointed Netanyahu's spokesman in 2016.
One woman who spoke to The Times of Israel accused Keyes of "physically aggressive" behaviour that could be considered sexual assault.
In emails obtained by The Times of Israel, Keyes apologised to two women for being "less than gentlemanly."
Other women described encounters with Keyes as either "aggressive, offensive, overly flirtatious or otherwise inappropriate."
In response to the allegations, Keyes told The Times of Israel on Wednesday that "all of the accusations are deeply misleading and many of them are categorically false."