Jerusalem – A Jerusalem court rejected a plea bargain with a former chief rabbi of Israel over corruption charges, adding another year of prison time.
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The court said Thursday that Yona Metzger will serve 4.5 years in prison. That adds another year to the terms of a plea bargain reached last month.
Metzger’s attorney, Yehuda Fried, told Channel 2 TV he might appeal. The station said the judges made the rare decision to take a strong stance against corruption.
Metzger ended his term early, in 2013, over charges that included breach of trust, fraud and tax offenses.
Israel has two chief rabbis, representing the Ashkenazi tradition from Europe and the Sephardic tradition from the Middle East and North Africa. Together, they lead the country’s supreme body overseeing Jewish religious services. Metzger represented the Ashkenzi tradition.
What about the boys? He will have a longer vacation if they start talking.
As part of the sentence he has to liquidate every property owned by him and his family, because apparently they were bought with his bribes. This means a disabled friend of mine is being evicted from her apartment that he rents out to her. Who is going to help a single mother, who cannot even take care of her own needs due to her disability, find another place that is affordable and suitable? What the “good Rabbi” has done has ramifications that go way beyond what we read about. He deserves his 4.5 years, he is a disgrace. YUGE Chilul Hashem.