Settler violates house arrest in bid to fly to Uman

Petah Tikva Magistrates' Court extends remand of 25-year-old man from Elon Moreh over suspicions he flew to Uman with another man's passport despite being under house arrest

Ra'anan Ben-Zur|Published: 10.09.11 , 14:05

The Petah Tikva Magistrates' Court on Sunday extended the remand of a 25-year-old man from Elon Moreh by two days over suspicions that he flew to Uman in the Ukraine despite being under house arrest, using another man's passport.

The impersonation was exposed at the airport in Kiev when the young man was heading back to Israel. He was arrested immediately upon landing at Ben Gurion Airport. During his interrogation he claimed that his rabbi told him to go to Uman.

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The suspect was put on house arrest over a year ago and was indicted for threatening police officers and wreaking havoc at a police station. Due to the legal proceedings against him, the court issued a stay of exit order.

According to suspicion, that did not prevent the man from flying to Ukraine with a false identity. He managed to visit Nachman of Breslov's gravestone in Uman and then attempted to make his way back to Israel.

However Kiev airport officials discovered the man was using a fake passport, alerting Israeli officials and leading to his arrest once landing in Ben-Gurion Airport.

During questioning the suspect claimed he violated his house arrest because "the rabbi ordered me to fly to Uman and I knew I wouldn't be able to issue a passport."

At a Petah Tikva Magistrates' Court hearing, the suspect's attorney claimed that aside from violating house arrest, her client hasn't committed any other felony. She also mentioned that the young man has been under house arrest for quite some time and has not violated it until now, requesting the court release him under restrictions.

However the judge ruled the police should be allowed to proceed with its investigation and extended the remand of the suspect by two days, fearing he might try to escape given recent circumstances.