Israel’s chief Sephardic rabbi said on Tuesday he feels ”true anguish” for an ultra-Orthodox teen who was abducted and beaten after striking up a relationship with the cleric’s daughter, but pinned the blame for the growing scandal on his wayward son.
Rabbi Shlomo Amar was to be questioned by police on Tuesday. The rabbi’s son, Meir (31), who abandoned his family’s strict Orthodox lifestyle years ago, is considered by police to be the prime suspect.
The rabbi did not address the key question of whether he was aware of the assault when it happened.
The 17-year-old youth has said his assailants subjected him to hours of abuse, beating him and cutting off his sidelocks, in order to force him to sever ties with the rabbi’s 18-year-old daughter, Ayala. The two teens had met through an internet chat room. Contact between unmarried men and women is frowned upon in the ultra-Orthodox world.
Israeli media say part of the assault took place in the rabbi’s home, when he was present. Police spokesperson Liat Pearl said the rabbi will be questioned on Tuesday, and that investigators want to know whether he was aware of the alleged kidnapping and abuse.
The rabbi has denied involvement and said he will cooperate with police.
Amar, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Sephardic Jews, who have roots in the Middle East, returned on Tuesday from a trip to Thailand.
Speaking to reporters outside his office, he said: ”Since I learned about the acts of my son, Meir, I have been full of sorrow and have experienced profound pain … It is very important for me to say I feel true anguish for the youth who was hurt.”
Ayala and the rabbi’s wife, Mazal, are being held under house arrest on suspicion they were involved in the abduction and assault.
Police suspect Meir teamed with two Israeli Arab friends in accosting the youth. A court on Tuesday extended his detention by another week.
Police said Ayala lured the youth to a car where Meir grabbed him at knifepoint and took him to the Arab town of Kalansua. Police say the youth was beaten at a Kalansua home for several hours, then taken to Amar’s house in Jerusalem, where he was beaten again.
Israel’s other chief rabbi, Yona Metzger, leader of Jews of European extraction, is also facing possible charges, over allegations he accepted improper favours from a Jerusalem hotel. — Sapa-AP