The longstanding sexual assault case against Israeli singer Eyal Golan was officially closed by the Tel Aviv District Court on Wednesday due to lack of evidence.
"This is a very difficult and humiliating day for me, I feel devastated," said "T," one of the complainants. "I really believed that this time someone would enact justice."
"After a decade of unfair persecution and two thorough police investigations, the truth has finally come out," wrote Golan on Wednesday in a social media post.
"My family and I had a difficult decade, but I never gave up...I want to thank you, my audience, the strongest army in the world, for trusting me and rejecting the attempts to hurt my integrity and my values." He also took care to thank his family, his lawyers, his manager and God.
The case against Eyal Golan
The case was initially opened in 2013 when Golan was accused of statutory rape. He and several people close to him were brought to trial.
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In February 2014, the case was closed after the plaintiffs withdrew their accusations against him. Later on, the complainants claimed that the investigation was mishandled and that the accusations against some of Golan's friends were never investigated.
The case was opened again in March 2021 with the same allegations in addition to police negligence. The complainants said at the time: "We are happy that we have reached this moment, after very long years of injustice. It is time for the world to see who the real liar is. Let everyone look at him and he will be ashamed, not us. For years, he continued and buried us in the same place. No more. For us it is the first step on the path to justice. The first hearing dealt with formal matters. In the following hearings, we hope that the truth will be proven and published."
The two young women, who went by "N" and "T," revealed that after having sex with Golan in the alleged early-2000s incident, he invited his friend into their Eilat hotel room. The friend then assaulted and raped the two girls while Golan and his manager allegedly stood guard outside the door of the hotel room.
Walla contributed to this report.