Jerusalem – A recent lawsuit that had a convicted pedophile suing a Monsey rabbi for slander prompted an Israeli child advocacy group to call on the government to bar convicted sexual offenders from immigrating to Israel.
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Yitzhak Kadman, head of the Israel National Council for the Child, an independent agency that advocates for the rights of children, sent a letter to the country’s Minister of the Interior urging him to deny visas to those who pose a danger to the public, as reported by The Times of Israel.
Kadman’s letter comes on the heels of a lawsuit brought by recent immigrant Yona Weinberg against child safety activist Rabbi Yakov Horowitz. As previously reported on VIN News, Weinberg moved from Flatbush to Har Nof last year, prompting Rabbi Horowitz to tweet warnings to residents, advising them that their new neighbor was a registered level three sexual offender and should be considered a danger to their children.
Weinberg sued Rabbi Horowitz for defamation and while an Israeli judge found in his favor, the 200,000 NIS judgment has since been set aside.
“This incident again raises our concerns (which we already brought to the attention of your predecessor) regarding the question of pre-screening before awarding citizenship or residency status,” Kadman wrote in his letter to Interior Minister Silvan Shalom. “Israel cannot and must not be a safe haven for sex offenders.”
While Israel’s Law of Return automatically grants Israeli citizenship to all Jews, the Interior Ministry has the power to exclude anyone who is deemed to pose a threat to the general population. The Interior Ministry confirmed that the citizenship of any convicted criminal would require further examination.
Weinberg, who together with his family is currently in the process of becoming a naturalized Israeli citizen, is not the first convicted American pedophile to seek Israeli citizenship. Avrohom Mondrowitz fled to Israel in 1984 after being accused of molesting as many as 300 boys in Brooklyn and was later indicted in absentia on 14 counts of sexual abuse.
After early attempts to extradite Mondrowitz failed, further extradition attempts were dropped in 1993, and Mondrowitz was granted Israeli citizenship three years later.
It’s shameful that Israel would allow child molesters to seek refuge there and possibly continue to molest children in Israel. Once a molester, always a molester. These people are sick individuals and nothing stops them except incarceration.
What political machinations are keeping American,Australian and perhaps other child molesters,safe in Israel?
This is good news and long overdue. But, they should go further, and automatically revoke citizenship for abusers to whom it was already granted.
I am in no way sympathetic to the abuser. But what exactly should an abuser be doing once released from prison? I’m not sure that the sentences are long enough, so this question should not need to be asked altogether. This pedophile did his damage that cannot be undone. His career is over, and his reputation destroyed. But now what? He has responsibilities to provide for his family. Where? How? I do not favor citizenship, as he should be considered unwelcome. His kids did no sin, and they should not get punished. Should his family abandon him, it would be well deserved, and they might benefit. But can we demand that? My only suggestion is to keep him incarcerated. After all, there is no place on earth safer.
Next point. Did this perp do anything to “try” and undo damage? How about to subsidize the victims’ therapy? How about apologies? I know these do not work, but where was his effort? If he is regretful of his behavior, he may have basis to ask for consideration. But if not, his cherem should continue.
Our pedophiles are just as protected in New Square as they are in Israel. The DA never wants to prosecute and tries to discourage parents.
OK Teshuva is good, nice, proper but this is a sickness and needs to be treated as such and no ….. no one wants him as a next door neighbor or to have your children go to his house to play with his children. We cannot sweep this under the rug any longer. Almost thirty years ago mondrowitz who is a convicted pedophile went to Israel and continued his horrible practices there. This making generations suffer.
emotionally, physically and mentally. and is handed down. Oy to us that we cannot see this. Thank you Rabbi Horowitz you brought this advocate group to at least start to stem the flow of some of these pedophiles.
KUDOS TO VIN for publicizing this story and not sweeping it under the rug!
Appreciate the kudos from #6 , #7 , and #8 . I am not looking to make life easier for perps. Let them suffer. But if we apply  220;justice 221; and limit it to something tiny like 13 months, while the victims suffer for the rest of their lives, what do we expect from them? The teshuvah piece means only a little, because pedophilia is an illness without a cure. I do not agree with limiting our expectations of a molester to teshuvah. But let 217;s take that position for a moment. Would teshuvah mean that the perp takes responsibilities for the damage and the treatment for the life of the victim? Wouldn 217;t it require the requesting of mechila? In absence of these 2 elements, can we realistically say that teshuvah has been done?
So from the illness perspective, this guy does not belong near potential victims. And there is little basis for the teshuvah argument. No, I 217;d never let him be near my kids. Rabbi Horowitz is spot-on for alerting the public. It seems that he has documentation from police on the additional allegations, and this strengthens the case against Weinberg. Anyone got a spare island for Yona?