This article describes how allegations of child sexual abuse are inves
tigated and adjudicated in Israel. Believing that children may well be
harmed by repeated interrogation and demands to testify and be cross-
examined, Israeli legislators enacted special provisions several decad
es ago to ensure that children were spared these traumas. Recent evalu
ations of the system they established suggest that the protections con
cerned may have led inadvertently to various practices, including the
failure to prosecute, that have not served children well. Possible rem
edies and a research program related to these issues are described.