About a year following his arrest, Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto has commented on those events, telling his followers that he name was dragged through the mud and at the end, all will see that he is innocent.
Pinto’s arrest was connected to an alleged bribe in the amount of 200,000 NIS, which was given to a senior police official who he hoped would assist him in an ongoing FBI investigation against him.
Persons close to the rav explain today that the 200,000 NIS was indeed given to Israel Police Brigadier-General Ephraim Bracha, but not as a bribe but rather to assist his family with medical problems.
According to a Ladaat report, Rav Pinto was among passengers who left Eretz Yisrael on Tuesday night for Bulgaria to be mispallel at the tziyun of the Pele Yoetz. The report adds that he did not return on the flight home however.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
5 Responses
I hope everything works out for him. Hes a true Tzadik!
#1- If you think he is a true Tzadik, I could be your gadol hador.
Wheres he staying Morocco?
I don’t know much about Rabbi Pinto, but IF (big “if”) this article is accurate, I know he does not understand what a bribe is. If Rabbi Pinto had NIS200,000 to give to someone with medical problems, why would he give it to an Israeli official who has power over an investigation of Rabbi Pinto? Well … to bribe the Israeli official. Surely the Israeli Police Brigadier General is not the only person in Israel who needs monetary help with a medical problem, but somehow, this Rabbi Pinto decided, out of all those needy people, to help someone who could help him. That’s a tzaddik?
The Tzaddik Rav Berland has an hachnossas orchim.