JERUSALEM: Israel’s Interior Minister and vice-premier, Silvan Shalom, said Sunday he was quitting his posts and leaving politics over reports of sexual harassment and indecent assault.

“Under these circumstances I have decided to resign from my position as minister and member of Parliament,” he said in a statement.

“My family is giving me full support but there is no justification for the price being exacted from it.”

Israel’s attorney general instructed police to investigate the reports, said a Justice Ministry report issued after Shalom’s announcement.

Israeli media, led by the left-leaning Haaretz, have reported multiple allegations by former members of Shalom’s staff of sexual misconduct.

Last week, the paper reported that an ex-staffer accused the minister but did not lodge an official police complaint. “The woman said that more than a decade ago, Shalom asked her to perform pervert acts on him, abusing his authority over her. However, that case cannot be prosecuted because of the statute of limitations,” the paper reported.

The Jerusalem Post reported that 11 women had alleged “inappropriate sexual advances toward them.”