Israeli woman sues Secret Service agent over alleged July assault in Israel ahead of Biden visit

An Israeli woman has sued an unnamed U.S. Secret Service agent, alleging that agent assaulted her while in Israel preparing for President Joe Biden's visit to the country in July.

The lawsuit, filed in D.C. District Court on Monday, alleges that 30-year-old Tamar Ben Haim was walking down the street when a U.S. Secret Service agent approached her around 1 a.m. and began holding her tightly and "hit her on her chest repeatedly, slapped her, causing her earring and earphone to fall to the ground," according to the lawsuit.

The name of the agent was not listed in the lawsuit.

The July 12 incident occurred after the agent, allegedly had come from the pub in the "Machane Yehuda" marketplace in Jerusalem.

"After the assault, Tamar learned of the fact that Defendant John Doe was an agent in the employ of the United States Secret Service who was a member of the Secret Service advance team preparing for President Joe Biden's visit to Israel in July of 2022," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit says an "individual" not involved in the incident removed the unnamed Secret Service agent from Ben Haim.

She filed a police report shortly after the incident occurred, and according to the lawsuit the agent was detained briefly but then was released and sent back to the United States.

The lawsuit says her lawyer's filed a FOIA request to obtain the agent's name but was denied.

"Tamar was walking to her home, minding her on business, when Defendant suddenly commenced his vicious assault. At the time, Tamar believed that these were her last moments on Earth. Defendant – as well as Defendant's employer– is attempting to evade justice by refusing to disclose his identity," the lawsuit claimed.

At the time of the incident, the Secret Service said an agent was briefly detained in Israel, was released from custody and sent back to the United States, but did not offer any more details of the incident.