The case of abuse carried out by members of a Betar Illit Vaad Tznius that came to light in 2013 has ended with a community service sentence against Gonen Hadad, who was known as the commander of the unit. The Jerusalem Magistrate Court handed down a three-month community service sentence.
The experts comment that the sentence is a light one relatively speaking, the result of a plea bargain agreement between defense attorney Avichai Hajbi and the prosecution.
According to the criminal indictment, Hadad following two 17-year-old sisters in 2011 and told one of them “This is the last time you will dress this way. It will not be pleasant but you cannot walk around like this in Betar. This is a chareidi city and if I see you next time, it will not be good for you for I will give you a beating”.
The young lady explained that if it was not Shabbos she would have recorded his statements.
Justice Eitan Kornhauser explained that before discussing sentencing he received the probation report, detailing the difficult life circumstances of the accused and was moved with the patterns of violence and at the same time, the accused’s willingness to integrate into a therapeutic program.
The court added that “an examination of the defendant’s circumstances suggests criminal offenses consistent with the conduct in two of the cases in which he was convicted. However, the defendant must be credited with the decision to accept responsibility for his actions through effective integration into the therapeutic process despite the difficult life circumstances, and the effect of the measure of punishment for him and his immediate family”.
Hadad’s attorney explained “Ultimately, all that remains of the stories of the Vaad Tznius in Betar Illit is the indictment of the modesty patrol that describes a fight in which even the complainants have used violence against my client. This is a sentence proportionate and appropriate in the circumstances”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
Really strange outcome. These Chareidim designate someone who now claims he was abused as a child as the head of their “modesty brigade”. Are they crazy??? And now he invokes his history of abuse as the defense for having abused a woman passing through their neighborhood. These are public streets, and while visitors should use common sense and dress respectfully, just as if they were tourists visting a church or mosque, they are legally entitled to dress as they wish and anyone interfering with them and is verbally abusive should be prosecuted.
Wonder if anyone will say, Tznius Policing should be a community service.
Beating people to submission is not a religious order to do without a heavenly ordained Beis Din. Shame on those who taint our Judaism with their radicalism.
Sounds like another Schlissel.
I’ve lived in Beitar for almsot 20 years and never heard of “Beitar Illit’s Modesty Patrol.”
That’s not to say that some individuals might not have taken it upon themselves to create some ad hoc patrol, but the headline makes it sound as thought the municipality has an official one, which as far as I know is not accurate. Like I said, I’ve lived here for almost 20 years and never heard of or saw it.
1) Gadolhadorah – you write, “These Chareidim…” – who are you implying by your statement? The municipality, the community, or a bunch of radical extremest who started their own Va’ad.
You also write, “they are legally entitled to dress as they wish”. – That is not 100% accurate. You are excluding the “Torah” which does not allow you to dress however you see fit. I find it sad that you didn’t even consider this thought.
4)EY Mom – the Va’ad HaTzniyus of Beitar has been around for at least 10 years. It developed as a result of a terrible Pirchachim (at risk kids) problem that they face. Being that the community has been affected by the chassidim and their standards of tzniyus the community has been at a quandary on how to deal with the problem. Unfortunately, the proper response has been slow in coming and as a result impatient hot headed citizens have taken the law into their own hands. The Va’ad Hatziyus is a secret organization as are all the other Va’adim there and thus it has been hard to dispel them. B”H this shameful person has been caught. I wish they would have made an example of him.
BTW – you are right that (to my knowledge) the municipality does not have a hand in it.