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US Secret Service agent assaulted Israeli woman: report

Intoxicated secret service agent reportedly assaulted Israeli woman who asked him to tone down his behavior.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

An American Secret Service agent was detained by Israeli police and sent back to the U.S. after reportedly assaulting a woman while drunk outside of a local pub.

Ynet reported that the man and a colleague had been drinking in a bar in Jerusalem’s famed Mahane Yehuda outdoor market on Monday when their behavior became rowdy and disruptive.

An Israeli woman, believed to be an employee or owner of a nearby business, asked the men to tone down their behavior.

An altercation ensued, and the woman told Israeli police that the man had either pushed or struck her. She was not seriously injured.

The man was detained by local authorities but released without charge and sent on a flight back to the U.S.

In a laconic statement, the Secret Service confirmed to CBS News that the man, a member of the heavy weapons tactical unit Counter Assault Team, had been detained by Israeli police.

“The employee has returned to the United States,” the Secret Service told CBS. “In accordance with agency protocol, his access to Secret Service systems and facilities was suspended pending further investigation.”

A number of sources with knowledge about the incident confirmed that alcohol had been a factor in the confrontation, but a Secret Service spokesman said that whether or not the agent had been intoxicated was still under investigation.

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“We hold all employees to the highest professional standards and you are seeing the results of our strong culture of accountability,” U.S. Secret Service Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi told CBS News, adding that the agents have mandatory annual “integrity training” and are taught about proper conduct before missions abroad.

According to a Reuters report, two Secret Service agents were sent back to the U.S. from South Korea in May 2022 following a drunken assault on a local taxi driver.