Nissim Yeshaya: Israeli Judge Resigns After Claiming "Some Girls Like To Be Raped"

Impact

During an appeals court meeting in Israel — for a case in which a 13-year-old girl was raped by four Palestinian youths — Judge Nissim Yeshaya thoughtlessly offered the opinion that "some girls like to be raped."

His comments generated stunned silence in the room, and the court has since sought to explain away Yeshaya's comments as "not intended to hurt or disrespect rape victims."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu withdrew his support for Yeshaya to head the Likud party's internal court, and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni announced that Yeshaya has now requested to resign as a result of the outrage his comments have generated.

In his defense, Yeshaya claimed that his words were misconstrued. He was supposedly attempting to question the validity of calling the rape a terrorist act. His method of achieving this was theorizing that a rape victim may enjoy her ordeal — and therefore make it impossible to consider a terrorist attack. 

By his logic, a bullet to the head might be considered an effective cure to cancer. Or perhaps tickling victims before strangulation would exonerate a serial killer, due to the obvious giggles of enjoyment! I'm sure we can all agree that it's not solicitation if you also tell a prostitute you love her.

At the very least, let's be thankful for the exposure we've gained in the age of the internet, and that the unfit mentalities among those who hold high office can now quickly be discovered and suitably removed. Despite all the debates we've generated about online privacy, let's also keep in mind that with every sex scandal and leaked recording, we see our leaders being held to the same standard.

The end result may very well be a less hypocritical, flawed, and dishonest world.