Attorney Tali Gottlieb
Attorney Tali Gottliebscreenshot

Attorney Tali Gottlieb spoke to Arutz Sheva about the newest reports of a Jewish Home MK harassing women.

"One word of gossip is enough to ruin a person's life. He's got no way out of this," she said. "Once again a person is paying with his good name for this system, in which only one word is needed in order to ruin a person's life. He has no way out," Gottlieb told Arutz Sheva in an interview.

Gottlieb also said that even if there is no evidence and the MK is completely clean, and even if the complaint is a complete lie, "We will always remember him, and people will always say, 'There's no smoke without fire,' because that's the type of people we are. We gossip from time to time and when we're talking about this or that important person, the gossip is a lot better. So why not gossip, it's simple and easy to do."

Gottlieb also says the women who complain enjoy complete anonymity, even after it's been proven that the man did nothing.

"It's a situation like this, where you don't know what she said and why she only remembered now, and if there are witnesses to it, or if she told someone or never told anyone, or if there's a reason she's complaining now," Gottlieb continued.

"The ones who pay the price for this disgusting system are always the men. In this case, it's an MK who is working for the public good, and he's a community representative. When a person serves in important offices like these, he needs to know that he's taking a risk that someone will dirty his name. He can speak in his defense until tomorrow, but there will always be people who claim he's guilty," she said.

Gottlieb believes that in the case of Brigadier General Ofek Buchris, the fact that they have agreed to a plea bargain does not mean anything.

"I understand why Buchris agreed to a plea bargain. I've been in criminal law for seventeen years, and I'm telling you, maybe you'll be surprised - but people make plea bargains because when it is a decision of risk versus benefit, a plea bargain is better than the alternative," Gottlieb said. "About ex-president Moshe Katzav, who's been sitting in jail for seven years, I don't think he should have sat for even one day. Why? Because you're right, maybe his behavior was unethical, but between unethical behavior and criminal activities, the lines are very clear, and the difference is huge.

"Katzv went with his truth, and he found himself in jail. So people, when they decide whether or not to take a risk, think about the danger to themselves and decide that the chance a man will be able to defend himself is so slim. And a person's freedom is often more important to him than the truth.

"I want to tell you that protecting mens' rights has become taboo in this country, and that's very sad. I'm saying this as someone who represents hundreds of men who find themselves victims to false accusations of all types, whether it's related to their divorce and the woman's insistence to prefer her personal interests over his, or whether it's related to the workplace and someone else is working to push their personal interests at the accused's expense, or whether or a thousand other reasons," Gottlieb concluded.