Lahav 433’s national fraud and extortion unit has wrapped up an investigation into suspected extortion, bribery, fraud and breach of trust involving three senior figures in Israel’s rabbinical court system. Police also questioned a former chief rabbi on suspicion of extortion, a day after a judge on the High Rabbinical Court who is close to him was summoned for questioning as a suspect.
According to police, the covert inquiry examined allegations that the three “used their senior roles in the rabbinical courts to extort another official in order to advance personal interests.”
The case began when a senior judge on a regional rabbinical court reported to police that he was being pressured by the High Rabbinical Court to influence rulings in disputes involving hekdeshot — religious endowments that include valuable real estate under the court’s authority.
In March ,investigators raided the High Rabbinical Court, the highest body in the rabbinical system, seizing emails and documents. Police suspect one judge forced a subordinate to amend rulings and official documents and threatened to block his promotion if he refused.
Police said the case file, which was overseen throughout by the State Attorney’s Office’s economic division, has now been handed over for prosecutors to review. The investigation was launched with the approval of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, and a gag order remains in effect.