During questioning over sexual harassment claims on Wednesday, former Justice Minister Haim Ramon said he had not had any reason to believe that the woman he is accused of forcing to kiss him was not interested in his advances.

"It is possible that I misunderstood her," he said. "It is possible that she did not want the kiss. I have never done this all my life, and I won't start at age 56 - I have never forced a kiss on anyone, but I have also never asked permission [to kiss]. There is a situation in which you think a kiss will be welcomed. I had not the slightest hint that she was not interested," said the former minister.

Ramon also sharply criticized the handling of the police investigation.

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"The police claim that there were faults made in good faith," he said. "I say, the last thing that was here was good or faith."

"A police force that does not send detectives to Cyprus to investigate drug deals, whose police cars are eliminated because of budget cuts, sends two investigators to Guatemala for a quick kiss. I am sure that if they send investigators, they will come back with results. Afterwards, I was told that they stayed in the same hotel with the complainant and her friend for four days. I then understood that the only place I have faith in is in the court.

Ramon recounted before the court the events that led up to the alleged kiss, descriving his first meeting with H., the complainant, who had been an officer in the Prime Minister's Bureau in Tel Aviv during her military service.

According to Ramon, when he arrived at the Bureau that day, H. had told him that she could not resist him. Ramon said that this comment seemed sexist and unusual to him at the time, but he accepted it.

The former minister added that later, when he sat to talk with H., she told him of her plans to travel to Costa Rica following her imminent release from military service. According to his testimony, she had invited him to join her on her trip, which he interpreted as flirtatious advance.

'She shoved her hand under mine'
Ramon described the moment in which a third person took a picture of him and the complainant with their arms around each other. According to the charges, Ramon allegedly kissed H. immediately after the young man who took their picture left the room.

According to Ramon, H. hugged him with both arms, and "pushed her entire chest against me." He said that his hand was in his pocket when she "shoved her hand under mine."

"Anyone can see that in the picture I look a little uncomfortable, but I am playing along," he said. "Dozens of women have had their picture taken with me as a memento while I served as a minister. I don't recall a single woman who posed in the way H. posed in this picture. As far as I was concerned, her behavior was the final confirmation for me that she was in fact flirting. We stood in that position for ten seconds, and she is captured as smiling and happy. That picture is worth a thousand words."

"It doesn't come as a surprise to me that women, even at that age, hit on me, it isn't something out of the ordinary," Ramon testified. "I wasn't shocked that it happened.I have had serious relationships with young women of that age. But her callousness and boldness - that surprised me. It would be inhumane not to feel that way."

In describing the kiss, Ramon said, "she said something to me, I didn't hear what she said, my feeling is that she came close just to continue what was going on."

"I motioned that I could not hear and then she came closer, again, close, close, 10-20 cm, and I'm taller than her. She lifted her head and smiled at me. I lowered my head and she didn't flinch - the opposite. And then, we kiss a spontaneous kiss, brief, lasting two-three seconds, on the lips."

Ramon maintains that H. fully cooperated with the kiss, and didn't show "any withdrawal."

"It is possible that my mouth was open partially," Ramon said. "Maybe my tongue touched her lips. I didn't put my tongue on her lips, I didn't mean to put my tongue on her lips."

Police: Ramon gave several versions during questioning
Ramon presented several versions of events during questioning over the sexual harassment claims, Deputy Police Commissioner Eran Kamin, who headed the investigation of the case, said Wednesday.

Ramon's trial for the alleged forced kiss continued Wednesday, and the complainant is expected to testify.

Also Wednesday, Tel Aviv Magistrates Court rejected media requests to publish H.'s testimony accusing Ramon of sexually assaulting her.

The judges said said their ruling was based on Ramon's request to keep the proceeding confidential. "The lawmaker presented his opinion that the privacy of someone alleging sexual misconduct should be afforded special protection," they said.

Kamin, the first witness, presented a film shot at the Prime Minister's Bureau in Tel Aviv, where Ramon is alleged to have sexually harassed H., recreating the circumstances of the alleged incident.

The film shows a door open to the room in which the incident allegedly took place, leaving a large "blind spot" which people in the adjoining room would not be able to see.

The film appears to confirm H.'s claims that the kiss took place in a location not visible from outside of the room.

During cross-examination, Ramon's attorney Dan Sheinman asked Kamin why he failed to question H. on the discrepancy between her police testimony and the testimony she presented on the location of the alleged incident.

Kamin traveled to Guatemala, where H. was traveling, to complete the questioning process. From there, the two called Ramon via videoconference. According to Kamin, the former justice minister responded angrily and a confrontation erupted.

"I felt very uncomfortable during the confrontation because of the accusations leveled at us by the minister. I believed they were out of place," he said.

Kamin also testified that Shula Zaken, head of the Prime Minister's Bureau, asked him whether H. wanted to file any other complaints, a question he felt reflected Zaken's lack of trust in Ramon.

Judge Daniel Be'eri expressed surprise at the police decision to plant wiretaps. "What is unusual in this letter? That she declined to complain - that's not unusual," he said.

Kamin responded that "I wouldn't want someone to leave such a question open. In any case, the transcripts neither serve the purpose of the defendant nor work against it. And there was no desire on our part to deceive, hide or influence."

In his testimony on Wednesday, Ramon said that despite the fact that "according to protocol guidelines I shouldn't have acted the way I did," all the events were initiated by the complainant, and accepted by her.

"I have been in pubic service for 25 to 30 years, and my record has never before been stained," said Ramon in his testimony.