David Keyes
David KeyesCNN

Julia Salazar, a 27-year-old contender in the Democratic primary for the New York State Senate, said Monday that several years ago she was sexually assaulted by David Keyes, who has served as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Media Advisor for the last two years.

“I’ve been informed that a story is about to run which identifies me as a victim of sexual assault. 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,” Salazar wrote.

Keyes, 34, denied the accusations: "The false accusations were made by one who has been proven to have lied about her life." He had to pass a polygraph test in which he stated that he had never harmed a woman before assuming the role as the prime minister's Media Advisor.

Salazar had previously made the same accusations against Keyes in Facebook posts she wrote two years ago but later deleted.

The candidate has been dogged by accusations that she has lied about her heritage, claiming to be of Jewish descent and an immigrant when she was neither.

On Tuesday, the Citizens Union good governance group announced that it was withdrawing its support for Salazar for lying about her academic credentials.

“Citizens Union is hereby rescinding the preference it expressed for Julia Salazar in the Democratic Primary for New York State Senate District 18,” Randy Mastro, the chair of the group, said in a statement. “Salazar recently admitted that the information she originally provided to Citizens Union about her academic credentials was not correct, so Citizens Union has decided to express no preference in this race.”