New measures to address concerns over paedophile teachers in Israel

Israel is set to introduce new checks to identify potential paedophiles on the back of growing concerns across the country that school children are being exposed to sex offenders due to a lack of adequate security.

Israel’s Ministry of Education decided to introduce the new measures after a substitute teacher was charged with multiple sex assaults on young children. Additional background checks will be carried out on all teachers before the start of the new school term.

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The additional checks follow the arrest of Shaul Shamai, the 48-year-old Israeli teacher who sexually abused 7-year-old girls in his school, and has resulted in the arrest of nine other sex offenders who are said to have been employed as substitute teachers in Israeli schools. There were also 31 other teachers that were barred from work due to their criminal records.

It’s thought that some 70 criminal investigations are launched annually against Israeli staff members on suspicion of sexual offences.