The police arrested 22 Haredim in Jerusalem and three other Israeli cities on Monday morning, on suspicion of sexually molesting minors and women over the last two years.
In some cases, ultra-Orthodox residents in the four cities Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Betar Ilit and Bnei Brak attacked the police, throwing stones and other items, and tried to block the arrests.
In Jerusalem, the windows of two police cars were shattered by rocks.
The investigation by the police’s Jerusalem District began after they received information that ultra-Orthodox elements were concealing information on sex crimes in their community.
These Haredim allegedly received their rabbis’ blessing to seek and collect information on sexual predators in the community, without involving the police.
They did so, even maintaining written records of attacks and the people involved. At the end of the process, the perpetrators were forced to agree to undergo therapy within the ultra-Orthodox world.
During their investigation, the police seized the notebooks in which the records were kept.
Tens of alleged attackers were documented, some of whom had committed serial offenses, including against children, the police said.
Based on this information, the police arrested 22 suspects, ages 20 to 60. Each is alleged to have committed several attacks over the last two years.
Following the arrests, the police said that the ultra-Orthodox community had been handling the matter internally, collecting information and conducting some form of internal procedure, culminating in a sort of punishment.
The upshot, the statement said, was that the suspects could continue to live their lives without paying a penalty, and dozens of victims were left without help. The police added they will make sure that those arrested are brought to trial.
The records on the alleged sexual predators were kept by a single person – known in ultra-Orthodox circles as a “fixer.” This person operates under the imprimatur of a Jerusalem-based body known as the “purification commission” of the community, which operates in different Haredi communities (including the Hasidic and “Lithuanian” sects).
The fixer himself is not a suspect in the case and is not under arrest.
He has been in contact with the police for years and testified in many sexual-offense cases, helping the police to achieve convictions. However, it has only become apparent now that he was maintaining a network that would field and investigate complaints about sexual offenses, using old-world methods accepted in the Haredi world.
Usually, offenders “tried” within Haredi circles are forced to undergo therapy, possibly with a psychologist, or might be “exiled” to another city.
The present affair arrives with the Haredi community in the midst of a changing attitude toward sex crimes.
This is expressed chiefly by extensive collaboration with the police even by the more extreme sects.
Another change is the intensive media coverage such cases receive on ultra-Orthodox news sites though still not in the printed press and in online forums.
Eli Schlesinger, a reporter for the Behadrey Haredim website, which is notable for its coverage of matters that were once silenced, noted that the purification commission is very helpful to the police and provided officers with information about alleged sexual offenses in Modi’in Ilit last year.
Cooperation with the police is based on the rabbis having faith in the process, Schlesinger said – a faith that might be damaged by the present investigation.
Police on Monday arrested 22 suspects from ultra-Orthodox communities on suspicion they carried out dozens of sex crimes against women and minors over the past two years, but were sheltered from the law by community figures who preferred to deal with the matter in their own way.
Investigators believe that various senior ultra-Orthodox leaders were aware of the suspects’ alleged crimes but did not report them to police or welfare workers, police said.
The early-morning arrests of men aged 20-60 were made in Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Beitar Illit, and Bnei Brak, cities with large ultra-Orthodox communities.
As police closed in on the suspects, ultra-Orthodox protesters tried to prevent the arrests by attacking officers and throwing stones at police vehicles, some of which were damaged.
Police suspect that the alleged crimes were not reported at the behest of so-called “modesty guards,” vigilante groups that act to enforce the ultra-Orthodox community’s strict lifestyle regulations of modesty and social behavior without the involvement of law officials or welfare authorities.
Investigators suspect the modesty guards gathered information on the suspects and then took the law into their own hands, deciding for themselves what the alleged perpetrators must do in order to avoid being reported to the police.
In most of the cases, the suspects were ordered to seek therapy from other members of the ultra-Orthodox community, police said.
The arrests came at the end of an undercover operation that began when police became aware of efforts by the communities to monitor and deal with the suspects by themselves.
According to the Hebrew-language ultra-Orthodox website Behadrei Haredim, police arrested a member of the modesty guards six weeks ago and, during a search of his home, found several notebooks listing the suspects and dozens of alleged crimes they had committed.
Police said the suspects would be questioned and some brought before judges to extend their remand. The ongoing investigation will also consider what action to take against the members of the modesty guards involved in the incident, a police spokesperson said.
The Israeli Police announced an undercover investigation into sexual crimes committed in haredi communities and in neighborhoods in Betar Illit, Bnei Brak, and Jerusalem. In the overnight operation police arrested 22 suspects and searched homes.
The crimes were allegedly committed over a period of two years. The ongoing investigation gathered evidence against suspects who carried out crimes within the communities.
Community members did not report the information to authorities or social workers and tried to cover up the sexual crimes that were being committed. Members of the community preferred to employ “law of the jungle” methods to deal with the crimes. The incidents were documented by members of the community and police acquired this evidence.
The ages of the suspects arrested range between 20 and 60 years old.
Police were faced with disturbances in the haredi communities during the arrests and damage was caused to police cars involved in the operation.
All suspects are being questioned at the Jerusalem police department and will appear before the courts based on the developments of the investigation.
עשרים ושניים חרדים, תושבי ירושלים, בית שמש, ביתר עלית ובני ברק נעצרו היום (שני) בחשד לתקיפת קטינים ונשים אשר לא דווחו למשטרה ולרשויות הרווחה, עם סיומה של חקירה סמויה בנושא ותוך ביצוע חיפוש ממוקד.
לאחר סיום איסוף הממצאים נגד החשודים, וכשבידי השוטרים צווי מעצר וחיפוש שהוצאו על ידי בית המשפט כנגד 22 בני אדם, פשטה המשטרה על בתיהם, ביצעה חיפוש ועצרה אותם. כלל החשודים הובאו לחקירה ביחידה המרכזית של המשטרה ונחקרים בגין החשד במהלך השנתיים האחרונות תקפו ילדים רבים ונשים.
מהודעת המשטרה עולה, כי החקירה החלה באיסוף מידע ממוקד שהצביע על פעילות שביצעו אנשי משמרות הצניעות. על פי החשד, הגורמים הללו קיבלו ואספו מידע אודות אנשים שביצעו תקיפות אכזריות, וניהלו נגדם הליך פנימי שבסופו קבעו והחליטו מה על החשודים לעשות בכדי שהאירוע יסגר ולא יועבר לטיפול המשטרה.
ברוב הפעמים הורו אנשי משמרות הצניעות לחשודים, לקבל טיפול כזה או אחר אצל גורמים חרדיים, כל זאת תוך רישום האירועים ופרטי המעורבים, בעשרות פנקסים שנתפסו בידי המשטרה.
על פי החשד, בשיטה זו הם נהגו כלפי עשרות אנשים שביצעו תקיפות, חלקם מספר פעמים ובמספר רב של קורבנות, בהם ילדים – כל זאת מבלי שהועבר דיווח לגורמי רווחה ולמשטרה.
כאמור, החל משעות הבוקר המוקדמות עצרה המשטרה 22 חשודים בגילאי 20-60, שלכל אחד מהם מיוחסות תקיפות קשות במהלך השנתיים האחרונות.
עם כניסת הכוחות לביצוע המעצרים בירושלים, החלה התגודדות סביבם תוך ניסיון לשבש את ביצוע המעצרים, יידוי אבנים, השלכת חפצים וקריאות גנאי. שתי חלונות של ניידות אף נופצו מאבנים שיודו לעברם, לפי הודעת המשטרה.
כלל החשודים בתקיפות נחקרים במשטרה, ובתום חקירתם יוחלט מי מהם בפני בית המשפט לדיון בבקשה להארכת מעצרם.
בהודעת המשטרה נאמר: “במסגרת החקירה נחשפה פעילות פנימית שבה חשודים עשו דין לעצמם, והם אלו שאספו המידע וניהלו מעין הליך פנימי וקבעו מה ה’עונש’. על ידי כך, החשודים המשיכו לנהל את חייהם מבלי לשאת בדין בגין מעשיהם החמורים – זאת לצד עשרות הקורבנות שלא קיבלו טיפול בהתאם למצבם”.
“בחשיפת הפרשיה, מעצר החשודים והבאתם לדין יש בראש ובראשונה משום מניעת פגיעה נוספת בקורבנות ומתן סיוע להם, ובמקביל העמדה לדין של החשודים, נגדם תפעל המשטרה למצות הדין בגין עבירות התקיפה המיוחסות להם”, אומרים במשטרת ישראל.