The trial of former Rishon L’tzion Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron Shlita is set to get underway in a number of days, on 28 Teves 5773. The trial will take place in the Jerusalem District Court and the honorable Justice Tzvi Segal will be presiding.

Defense attorneys Yaakov Weinrott and Yaron Kustlitz have requested an expeditious judicial process, confident the rav will be acquitted and seeking to spare him the pain and anguish of a prolonged trial.

The rav faces charges pertaining to grant semicha to over 1,000 members of Israel Police and the IDF, and as a result, they were given substantial increases in their salaries. The investigators allege the rabbinical ordinations were bought and not earned, and the former chief rabbi was a willing participant in the events despite the fact he did not take any money for turning a blind eye.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)