Israel media questions awarding prize to fraudulent lawyer behind Hamas ‘mass rape’ allegations

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth has published an expose accusing an Israeli lawyer who claimed Hamas fighters committed systematic sexual violence on 7 October, of “fraud, and scamming donors”.

On 21 March, the Ministry of Education awarded the prestigious Israel Prize in the field of Solidarity to Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy; a lawyer and political science lecturer at the Hebrew University.

At the time, Education Minister, Yoav Kisch, hailed Elkayam-Levy’s “work in the international arena to expose the atrocities of Hamas” as “a crucial pillar in our ongoing struggle for justice and in our efforts to confront the perpetrators.”

“The people of Israel deeply value your work and extend their heartfelt gratitude to you,” he added.

Elkayam-Levy rose to prominence after claiming to have founded the so-called Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children, and spearheaded spreading misinformation to international media outlets including the New York Times and CNN that were later debunked.

However on Monday, Ynet, the media outlet affiliated with Yedioth Ahronoth, questioned the ministry’s decision to favour her over other more professional and more reliable women in this field.

“People have disassociated themselves from her because her research is inaccurate,” an Israeli government official told Ynet.

The government source cited how Elkayam-Levy disseminated a story about Palestinian fighters “slicing the belly of a pregnant woman – a story proven to be untrue, and she spread it in the international media.”

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“It’s no joke. Little by little, professionals have begun to distance themselves from her because she is unreliable,” the source added.

It had previously been exposed that Elkayam-Levy also presented images of female Kurdish fighters killed in combat as Jewish Israeli women who had been killed on 7 October.

According to Ynet, Elkayam-Levy has also conned Jewish donors and channelled the money into her personal bank account.

Ynet said Elkayam-Levy appealed for $8 million to fund her non-existent “civil commission” in 2024, of which $1.5 million would go to “management and administration”.

“Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, donated money to her, she took donations from a lot of people, and started asking for money for lectures,” the Israeli official added.

“At first she really was very active, and it was very nice,” the government source told Ynet. “And then she started calling herself ‘civil commission.’ People got confused, members of [the US] Congress turned to people who work with Israel and asked what this was about – did Israel create a commission? It’s a confusing name.”

“And to the question of is there such a thing at all? Is there such a body? The answer is: no,” the source added. “She is the body. She is this civil commission.”

Israel’s Channel 13 has also questioned Elkayam-Levy’s credibility.

“They mention her starting a ‘civil commission’ to raise awareness. It bears mentioning that the name ‘civil commission’ is very bombastic. The commission is her. And she is the commission,” Channel 13’s Raviv Drucker says.

Drucker cited the head of the Israel Prize committee as saying that  Elkayam-Levy had been given the award because “she authored the Horrors Report” – a report on the mass rapes.

“But then we realise that there is no Horrors Report. There is simply no such report. It hasn’t been written, not by her and not by anyone,” Drucker explained.

“There is this letter she sent two weeks after the catastrophe, after the slaughter of 7 October. But it was just a collection of newspaper headlines, a letter only a few pages long. There is no such report,” he added.

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