The younger daughter of Amos Oz has accused the late Israeli author of severe, serial abuse, the Times of Israel reports.
Author Galia Oz leveled the claims in Something Disguised as Love, a new memoir, in which she writes, “During my childhood, my father beat, cursed and humiliated me. The abuse was creative: He would drag me around the house and throw me onto the stoop outside. He would call me garbage.”
Amos Oz was one of Israel’s most celebrated writers. The author of books such as To Know a Woman, Panther in the Basement, and Judas, and the winner of dozens of literary awards, he died in 2018.
Galia Oz’s mother and siblings have pushed back against her allegations, Haaretz reports. Fania Oz-Salzberger, the older daughter of Amos Oz, wrote on Twitter, “We have known all our lives a very different Amos, a warm and affectionate man who loved his family deeply and gently.…The vast majority of Galia’s accusations against Amos squarely contradict our three lifetimes of loving memories of him.”
The family’s response: (1/3)
— Fania Oz-Salzberger פניהעוז-זלצברגר (@faniaoz) February 21, 2021
Today, Galia Oz launched a new book hurling serious allegations against her father, Amos. Also against us, her mother and siblings.
We have known all our lives a very different Amos, a warm and affectionate man who loved his family deeply and gently.
Daniel Oz, Amos Oz’s son, allowed that his father “wasn’t an angel,” but also called him “the best man I ever had the privilege of knowing.
“I’m certain—that is, I know—there’s a kernel of truth in [Galia Oz’s] statements,” he wrote. “Don’t erase her. But don’t erase us, either.”
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
