Israeli artist committed suicide after an article about his relationship with female students

On February 1, the Israeli publication Mako published an investigation about a former teacher at the Telma Yelin art school from the city of Givatayim, near Tel Aviv. The article said that the teacher of the educational institution, the locally famous artist Boaz Arad, met with graduates of the school, and in one case maintained a relationship with a 16-year-old schoolgirl, who told reporters about this. Although 16 is the age of consent in Israel, the law prohibits relationships between teachers and underage students. The day after the publication of the material, 61-year-old Boaz Arad committed suicide. The story is told by "Medusa»

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Boaz arad

What did the article say?

Boaz Arad, whose works were exhibited in galleries in many countries around the world, taught at the Telma Yelin art school from 1983 to 2006. Arad was considered one of the most famous and honored teachers, his students loved him very much. He often invited schoolchildren to his home, painted them, worked closely with adolescents and was a moral authority for them.

With some female students he communicated more closely. A woman who studied at art school in the beginning of 1990, told reporters Makothat with 16 for years she had a relationship with Arad; a schoolgirl fell in love with him during one-on-one conversations and drawing lessons at home. Once, during one of these lessons, a former student of Arad argues, he offered the girl a pose. Then the teacher asked her to undress; the girl agreed. "He could not draw, he said that he could not control himself," she told reporters.

They had a romantic and sexual bond, which the couple carefully concealed. Two years later, after the girl turned 18, they began to meet openly. According to the former student of the art school, their relations could not be called equal: Arad behaved aggressively, constantly taught her, criticized her college and teachers. The girl found out that Arad had met with the female students of “Thelma Yelin” before her; he did not deny it.

According to former student Arad, that the artist starts a relationship with schoolgirls, rumors circulated throughout the school. The teachers were also aware of them; no action they took.

The novel lasted a total of four years, after which the girl left the teacher and left the city. The story girls confirmed several of her friends. One of her friends said that this relationship was difficult to call suspicious, they were more like a beautiful love story.

To journalists Mako I managed to find out at least three more graduates of the Thelma Yelin school with whom Arad had a relationship - but there is no information that he had a sexual relationship with them at the time when they were in school.

What did the teacher say?

The publication gave Boaz Arad the right to respond to accusations. Journalists did not tell him what kind of girls it was about in the material.

The artist said that he did have a relationship with former female students, but with none of them he had sex until they came of age. He explained that all these relations occurred without coercion and violence, they were sincere and by mutual consent.

Arad argued that he “never crossed the border” in friendship with minors. During the conversation with journalists, he nevertheless admitted that they began a romantic relationship with one of the girls while she was in school, but there was no talk about sex.

“I had few relationships in my life, but everything that was, had a great value for me,” he said.

According to Arad, he met one of her former students when she grew up. She accused him that the teacher wanted only sex from her and used her. She "trampled him in the mud," Arad said. The artist himself insisted that he was genuinely in love and dreamed that she would stay with him.

Arad threatened to commit suicide because of the publication

In an interview with journalists, Boaz Arad has repeatedly stated that if the article comes out, his life will be meaningless. He explained that he would not be able to defend his honest name in court and would not be able to sleep at night, thinking about how he had ruined the life of a girl with whom he had met before her adulthood. “I am ashamed of that, I feel guilty. I have few friends, no family, I try to do everything for my students, to do art. If you take it away from me, I will not be able to teach and exhibit anymore. I will have no reason to live, ”he said in an interview. Mako.

The publication turned to the police before publication and asked to pay attention to the words of the artist about his intentions to commit suicide. The police visited him and decided that there was no threat to his life. 2 February, the day after the release of the material, Boaz Arad committed suicide.

Mako brought condolences to the artist's family and friends. At the same time, the publication defends its right to publish the investigation: it contains reliable facts, and Arad continued to teach at school at the time of publication.

“A journalist who has learned about the relations between the teacher and his students forbidden by law — and who has repeatedly decided not to write about it — is to blame in the face of truth, the profession of a journalist and, above all, in the face of victims,” the statement reads. Mako.

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