Senior Police Officer Alona Shoshan Accuses Police Spokesman Lior Abudraham of Sexual Harassment

Alona Shoshan, head of the Police Investigations Department, has filed a sexual harassment complaint against Lior Abudraham, the police spokesperson and head of the police communications division. The allegation arose after an incident in which Shoshan claimed Abudraham harassed her while they were returning from a police event by car. Abudraham denies the accusations and claims Shoshan attempted to record him and provoke a discussion about an alleged affair between him and a police investigator, which he also denies.

This case is connected to a broader investigation involving Kobi Yakobi, the Israel Prison Service commissioner, who faces charges of obstruction of justice and breach of trust for allegedly leaking details of a covert investigation against him. Yakobi claimed that Abudraham, the main prosecution witness against him, had an improper relationship with a police investigator, which he argued influenced the investigation. Both Abudraham and the investigator denied these claims and passed polygraph tests.

Due to the sensitivity of the allegations, the sexual harassment investigation was transferred from the Police Investigations Department to the Competition Authority, an external body within the Ministry of Economy. Abudraham was questioned earlier this month and confronted with Shoshan's claims, which he denied. Following the investigation, he was suspended from the police for about two weeks. Shoshan was also investigated on suspicion of witness harassment and released under restrictions.

The investigation continues, with testimonies being collected from other police officers who witnessed or heard about the interactions between Abudraham and Shoshan. The case is expected to be forwarded to the prosecution soon for a decision on possible charges.