Posted on 05/08/2005 9:10:26 PM PDT by Alouette
Police said Sunday they had collected sufficient evidence to press charges against Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar's wife, daughter and son in connection with the alleged kidnapping and beating of a 17-year-old haredi youth romantically involved with Amar's 18-year-old daughter.
"We believe we have sufficient evidence to press charges against the suspects and will recommend that the prosecution do so," said a senior police officer involved in the investigation.
The officer stressed that police have yet to obtain concrete evidence against Amar, who is currently in Thailand on business and is scheduled to return on Tuesday. Police confirmed that Amar was at home when the youth was brought to the family's Jerusalem apartment following a night of abuse in Kalansua, but said there were conflicting versions regarding his level of involvement in the affair.
Ayala Amar, the rabbi's daughter, met the 17-year-old boy from Bnei Brak over the Internet some three months ago, police said. Meir – the chief rabbi's 31-year-old estranged son who turned secular some 15 years ago – kidnapped the youth in an effort to persuade him to break off the relationship with his sister.
During the night of the kidnapping last month, Meir took the youth to Kalansua where two of his acquaintances – Abdullah and Ahmed Maslawah – tied him up, cut off his peyot, cut his kippa in half and beat him for several hours. In the morning, the youth was taken to the Amar home, were the beating continued.
On Sunday, police confronted Amar's wife Mazal with the abducted youth. During the confrontation, the youth reportedly told police the chief rabbi was not only present while he was beaten, but also knew of the abduction. Police have said they intend to request permission from Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz to question Amar upon his return.
While police suspect Meir was the mastermind behind the kidnapping, they said he was ordered to do so by his mother, who told him of Ayala's illicit relationship and asked him to "take care of the problem."
On Friday, the three Amar family members were brought to Tel Aviv District Court which extended Meir's remand by an additional eight days. Ayala and her mother were released to house arrest. Sources close to Amar said Sunday that while he admits to being home at the time of the alleged beating, he was not aware of the abduction.
"Maybe that boy was brought to the rabbi's house in the early morning hours when Amar was sleeping," one source said. "But that does not mean the rabbi was aware of what was going on."
"First, the rabbi's apartment is big and the distance from the family room to the bedroom is far enough so that the rabbi probably never heard anything," the source added. "In addition, there are always people coming and going at the rabbi's house. It's like a train station. So even if the rabbi saw the boy on his way to morning prayers, it is not clear he would think twice about it."
"Rabbi Amar is a respected Torah figure. If he would have known about the kidnapping and the beating he would have stopped it immediately," he said.
Sources close to Amar placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of Meir, who left home some 15 years ago. Of Amar's 12 children – four boys and eight girls – Meir is the only one who abandoned religion.
Sources close to Amar also rejected claims that Ayala reciprocated the young man's love. These sources said that the youth is a known haredi juvenile delinquent.
"He forced himself on her against her will. The brother found out and decided to do something about it," one source said.
The youth belongs to a well-respected Sephardi family in Bnei Brak. Since he is a minor, there is a police ban on the publishing his name.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual mentor of Shas, spoke by phone with Amar. "I am sure everything will work for the better in the end," he told him. "I pray that God will bring your son back to the fold."
I don't know that the fact that Rabbi Amar's family is Sephardic has anything to do with the case. I believe that I have read that the kidnapped boy also is Sephardic.
Even if he is not, I don't know that the fact that some Jews are Sephardic and some Jews are Ashkenazic is relevant to this case.
But Jews with any other religious affiliation or none at all (i.e. Bu-Jews, atheists, etc.) are allowed in under the Law of Return. It seems to me that only Messianic Jews are singled out for discrimination in this case.
If that's true, I would guess that the government, as a matter of public policy, has determined that Christianity disguised as Judaism poses a greater threat to the integrity of the Jewish people.
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