Musician Yuval Wilner named as suspect in two highly publicized rape cases

Suspect, who is accused by two women of assaults in 2011 and 2022, released from house arrest but ordered to remain in country for 30 days and is prohibited from contacting his accusers

The Israeli musician Yuval Wilner was named Sunday as the suspect in two highly publicized rape cases after the Tel Aviv District Court cleared his name for publication.

The 38-year-old Tel Avivian is accused of raping in 2011 Shaylee Atary, a filmmaker, singer, and later survivor of the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre. Another woman, Naama Shahar, has also accused him of raping her in October 2022.

Wilner, who is married, resides overseas but returned to Israel for questioning in the cases earlier in May. He was arrested upon arrival due to the suspicions, then transferred to house arrest.

Just before the gag order was lifted, Wilner was released from house arrest Sunday morning, though the court instructed that he remain in Israel for 30 days, and he is banned from making contact with his accusers.

“For fifteen years, I didn’t have the basic right to say the name Yuval Wilner out loud,” Atary said in a statement after the order was lifted. “Not in an interview, not in a post, not even with family members or people close to me. While he continued to live his life with power, money, and respect, I was the one who lived as though his name was explosive, just waiting to blow up my life.”

“This is the moment that I am no longer being asked to pay with my life so that the reputation of someone who brutally raped me remains clean,” she said.

Attorney Moshe Weiss, representing Wilner, said in a statement that his client “will not be judged on the [social] networks and will not be convicted in headlines. He is a person, just like every person. He has no position, power, or influence. The monster you were told about never existed. The evidence speaks for itself, and when you see it, you will understand yourselves. There is only one truth, and eventually it will come to light.”

Hila Neubach, head of legal affairs at the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, told Channel 12 that Wilner’s name was released after a “long and torturous legal journey.”

“No victim should have to struggle for months in the legal system while the suspect plays games with her and in the courts and presents false impressions as if his life is in danger, all while he is already interviewing with media outlets and trying to paint himself as a victim in the story,” she said.

Atary launched a legal battle last year to lift the gag order that was imposed on the suspect’s name when she filed a complaint against him in 2022, over concerns he could be at risk of suicide or self-harm.

Shahar came forward with her accusation last month in a social media post. She accuses Wildner of raping her at his home after spending time in a bar, and believes that she was drugged.

Atary told a Knesset hearing in January about the inadequate state response to the violent sexual assault that she experienced.

“In April 2011, I was violently raped on the asphalt of a residential parking lot beneath my apartment in Tel Aviv,” said Atary.

After she went to the police, providing evidence of her injuries, “the police were negligent, and the prosecution closed the case for lack of evidence,” she said.

Wilner asked for a gag order at the time, which was granted, the Ynet outlet reported.

Kan reported that last Monday, Winner’s attorney told the court that his client was withdrawing his claim of being a suicide risk and had agreed to have his name published.

Winner’s attorney asked that a decision on the matter be delayed for two weeks, but attorneys for Atary, Shahar, and the Association of Rape Crisis Centers all opposed this.

The court eventually settled on Sunday to release his name.

Police reopened Atary’s case in 2025 after additional evidence came to light.

The force also arranged a confrontation between Wilner and Shahar after his arrest. According to the Ynet outlet, it also increased the suspicion against Wilner.

Atary survived the Hamas-led massacre at her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023. Her husband, Yahav Winner, was killed protecting her and their newborn baby, Shaya, enabling them to flee. They were rescued after hiding for more than 24 hours.