The judicial system in Israel continues to harass and
persecute Torah observant Jews. Last week, the Justice of
Jerusalem's Regional Court sentenced one of those charged
with setting fire to a missionary apartment in Meah Shearim
to eight months in prison and an additional four months
suspended sentence. In addition, the High Court categorically
rejected the appeal of another suspect in the case. Both
maintain their innocence.
The harassment and persecution of the innocent chareidim, who
are being held in prison until the end of the proceedings
against them, have exacerbated the already stormy reactions
with the judicial system. The system creates new laws
regarding alleged chareidi "criminals," while others, accused
of serious crimes -- including murder -- are detained under
house arrest.
For the past three months, three chareidim charged with
setting fire to a Meah Shearim apartment occupied by
missionaries have been languishing in prison. Even though it
is clear that the three were in the area only out of
curiosity and had no part in the arson, the prosecution
demanded their imprisonment until sentencing. The entire case
rests on the testimony of one of those arrested. This
testimony, which the witness himself later retracted, was
extracted from him by force and coercion.
The indictment against the "accused," Yehoshua Weiss, charges
him with "conspiracy to commit crime, unruly behavior, arson
and the malicious causing of damage." The State prosecution,
whose senior members continue to abuse the chareidim as they
have done for many years, demanded the imposition of a
maximal sentence. This is despite the explicit, adamant
requests of the Degel HaTorah representatives, Rabbi Avrohom
Ravitz and Rabbi Moshe Gafni that the Prosecutor General not
imprison the accused until the end of the legal proceedings,
but treat him like he does other suspects.
The Justice of the Regional Court did not comply with the
prosecution's demand to impose maximal punishment on Weiss,
and was, to a certain degree, impressed by the claims of his
attorney. As a result, she sentenced Weiss to eight months in
prison. Justice Hecht wrote that she decided not to issue a
maximal sentence partly due to the relatively small role he
played in the incident, and also due to his claim in court
that he was only present at the scene of the crime, and had
no connection to the described deeds.
One of the suspects under arrest, Aharon Kornblit, a father
of six, will remain in jail until the end of the proceedings,
despite the extreme hardship that this causes his broken-
hearted family.
The prosecution has no proof against Kornblit, except for
Weiss' testimony, extracted by the police under extreme
physical pressure. Weiss later withdrew his "confession," and
throughout the trial he has claimed that the testimony had
been extracted from him by force.
On the basis of these facts, Aharon Kornblit appealed to the
regional court, asking it to reconsider its decision. The
court rejected his appeal, and Kornblit appealed against this
decision in the High Court. Justice Dorner rejected his
appeal.
Throughout the deliberations, the prosecution claimed that
the testimony which incriminated Kornblit, and which was
later retracted by the witness, does not mitigate the
evidence the police have against him. The Justice of the High
Court rejected the appeal and determined that retraction of
the testimony does not overshadow the proof which led to the
decision to arrest Kornblit and hold him until the end of the
proceedings.
Both these legal decisions underscore the judicial system's
continuous harassment of chareidim. These decisions drew a
series of reactions, the first of which was a prayer rally in
the Botei Ungarin quarter of Meah Shearim. The rally opened
with the recitation of Tehillim and the delivery of
divrei his'orerus by HaRav Moshe Sternbuch and the
admor of Toldos Aharon. Afterward, hundreds of
Jerusalem's most venerable residents bound chains around
their hands, and marched to the United Nations building,
demanding that the UN intervene in the affair, which
constitutes a serious breach of human rights.
Chareidi public figures said that the judicial system's
continued harassment of the chareidi public by means of
decisions which negate Knesset legislation, intervention in
the Knesset's work, and the meting of heavy sentences on
chareidim accused of various crimes in which they played no
part, attest more than a thousand witnesses to the personal
outlooks of the judges. This shameful harassment of the
chareidi community must be halted immediately, they said.
