Tzefas Chief Sephardi Rabbi HaRav Shmuel Eliyahu is demanding an apology from Nadav Argaman, the director of the ISA (Israel Security Agency/Shin Bet), after learning four of the five Jewish youths in custody are being released with restrictions.

Rav Eliyahu, who is also a member of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel Council, lashed out against the security service for their handling of the affair and the reports of how the detainees, all minors, were deprived of their basic rights as they were threatened and even tortured by interrogators.

In his letter to Argaman, Rav Eliyahu states that their release comes as no surprise and there was no justification for questioning them for 12 hours, with their hands bound, as if they were murderers.

The case in question is a rock-throwing attack which occurred in the Tapuach Junction area of Shomron in October 2018, which claimed the life of Aisha Rabi, a 48-year-old Palestinian woman, a mother of eight. The youths were arrested as suspects in that attack.

The rav in his letter praises the security agency but points out there is something very wrong with the Jewish Unit which is handling this case, citing the ISA acts as if it an arm of the left-wing B’Tselem or Breaking the Silence organizations. He warns that losing the trust of the tzibur carries a high price, explaining of late someone explained to him he was approached by the unit to assist. Rav Eliyahu told him that while “we are against attacks,” he advised the person not to assist and organization “which views all Jewish graffiti as a hate crime and turns every stone thrown into attempted murder.

The rav suggest that Argaman “bang on the table and call the head of the Jewish Unit to order due to recent failures, to close the unit or at the very least, dismiss the unit head so we do not return to the days of Avishai Raviv.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)