The haredi man who is accused of sexually harassing IDF soldier Doron Matalon after she refused to sit at the back of a public bus in Jerusalem, told Ynet Monday that she had intervened in an argument between him and another woman who stood near the "men-only" section of the bus. According to Shlomo Fuchs , 44, Matalon acted provocatively. It's the most basic concept: A woman should not stand amidst men, just like no woman would go into a men's bathroom. So I called her a slut. Fuchs said he was travelling from his home in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood to a yeshiva in Mea Shearim last Tuesday when "some Russian woman stood by the men's seats at the front of the bus.
I only heard her voice. I could only make out her head, and I yelled 'slut. At this point, Fuchs claimed, Matalon said "Look at you; parasite; parasites, taking money from the State. I protect you. I sit at shul from eight in the morning till midnight and study, and she's protecting me?
I protect her," the ultra-Orthodox man told Ynet. However, Fuchs said, Matalon continued to argue. According to him, she said "these haredim do what they want. We will bring an end to it. Take him to the police. Fuchs claimed he was not aware of the significance of the word "slut" in the secular world. People laughed at me because I don't have any idea what women's exclusion is and don't know what happened in Beit Shemesh ," he said.
She cannot give back the hours of studying that I lost; she cannot take away the fear that I have when I go out to the street. She shamed us all and made us out to be criminals," Fuchs said. He also claimed Israel Police had deliberately assigned female investigators to handle his case. Yes, they harassed me only because I am haredi," Fuchs said. Asked about the controversial Holocaust display at a recent ultra-Orthodox rally in the capital, Fuchs said, "I sympathize with these feelings of persecution.
They tried to present me as though I were the worst criminal in the world, and from this perspective it is just like the goyim treated the Jews for generations. I too sang 'Hatikva' national anthem once. I want to be free in our land. Leave me be. Udi Matalon, the soldier's father, said "apparently Fuchs is trying to present himself as the victim. This attempt should not be taken too seriously.
