The Israeli woman allegedly assaulted in July by an off-duty Secret Service agent – who was in Jerusalem to prep for President Biden’s visit – filed a civil lawsuit Monday.
Tamar Ben Haim brought the case in DC federal court against the unidentified agent over the July 12 attack, which took place in an alleyway while she was walking home around 1:00 a.m.
The 30-year-old graphic designer says the man – who she saw had a gun – “began hitting and slapping her” and she thought “that these were her last moments on Earth.”
The man “held Tamar tightly, hit her on her chest, repeatedly, slapped her, causing her earring and earphone to fall to the ground,” the court papers claim.
Ben Haim screamed for help but no one came until a man accompanying her assailant pulled him off of her before leaving the scene, the filing claims.
The Israeli says she reported the assault to the police “immediately afterwards,” and the cops took her alleged attacker into custody — but eventually released him and sent him back to the US.
She would later find out that the man – who had just come from a bar – was an off-duty Secret Service agent doing advance work for Biden’s visit, the documents say.
Ben Haim claims the incident traumatized her and caused her to have trouble sleeping along with anxiety, depression and fatigue. She also now has headaches and difficulty breathing, according to the suit.
The woman also says she must now regularly see a psychologist and psychiatrist to help deal with the trauma.
In the lawsuit, Ben Haim’s attorney Marc Zell argued that the Secret Service is protecting her assailant.
“Defendant – as well as defendant’s employer – is attempting to evade justice by refusing to disclose his identity,” the suit charges.
Ben Haim says she has filed a request for the man’s identity to be revealed under the Freedom of Information Act, which the Secret Service has denied. She has an appeal pending for that case, according to the suit.
In an interview shortly after the attack, Ben Haim told Fox News that a “large man” punched her “over and over” like a “punching bag.”
“I was in total shock,” she said at the time. “He was so strong … I couldn’t even attempt to defend myself. In my head, I was thinking, ‘You won’t survive this. This is the end of your life.’”
According to Ben Haim, she was forced to remain in bed for three days, unable to move from the pain. The agent’s access to Secret Service systems and facilities was suspended while they investigated, the agency said at the time.
When Ben Haim discovered he was with the Secret Service after she was contacted for an interview by an Israeli TV station, she said: “I just felt more anger, more hurt.”
“He’s not a homeless person off the street. He’s a trained fighter,” she said.
“This is not someone from a Third World country. America is the example of the world, and he works for the president,” she told Fox. “They just shipped him back to where he came like nothing ever happened, and they expect me to just move on with my life.”
The Secret Service referred a request for comment to the Department of Justice – which had no immediate response Monday.
