Fugitive Hasidic Rabbi Denied Bail in Rape Case

Israeli Rabbi Eliezer Berland. Image by Getty

By Andrew Silow-Carroll August 18, 2016

— An elderly Hasidic rabbi caught on video apparently admitting to raping a woman and plotting the murder of an unnamed person will remain in police custody until legal proceedings against him are over.

The Jerusalem Magistrate Court denied bail Thursday to Rabbi Eliezer Berland, 79, who was extradited from South Africa to Israel last month and charged with several counts of sexual assault after three years as a fugitive, The Times of Israel reported. The court considers him a flight risk, according to the newspaper.

Berland, who was arrested in April in Johannesburg, is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl and trying to engage in sexual acts with four women who came to him seeking his advice and help. Last month, the media in Israeli reported about a recording allegedly of Berland admitting to rape.

An attorney for Berland attorney has denied that the voice on the recording is his client’s, saying the rabbi’s enemies are trying to hurt him. Berland, a member of the Breslov Hasidic movement and founder of the Shuvu Bonim religious seminary in Israel, has denied the allegations against him.

According to the 2012 recordings, made by two of his followers, Berland is heard instructing followers to place a bomb under the bed of an unnamed person and admitting to ordering a string of arson attacks nearly two decades ago.

Andrew Silow-Carroll is editor in chief of the New York Jewish Week and senior editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He previously served as JTA’s editor in chief and as editor in chief and CEO of the New Jersey Jewish News.

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