Cape Town – Fugitive Rabbi Eliezer Berland was arrested in South Africa on Thursday and is expected to face an extradition process to Israel, where he is wanted on suspicion of carrying out sex crimes.
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Berland’s attorney Sharon Nahari on Thursday confirmed his client’s arrest, and said Israeli authorities had filed a request to extradite him.
Nahari vowed that he would fly to South Africa and contest his client’s extradition to Israel, like he did last year after he was arrested in Amsterdam. Nahari also represented Israeli underworld boss Yitzhak Abergil ahead of his extradition to Israel in January 2014.
Followers of Berland’s were quoted in the Israeli media as saying that he underwent surgery a week ago and that local law enforcement may have pounced on the opportunity to arrest him.
An official with the Israel Police would not confirm the arrest, saying only that they comment on extraditions only when they are taking place and not during the interim stages.
Berland, 80, is the leader of the “Shuvu Banim” community of the Breslov Hassidic sect. He fled Israel in 2012 after claims of sexual abuse were made against him by several women, including a 15-year-old girl.
He has since resided in Miami, Zurich, Morocco and Zimbabwe with a band of devoted followers in his efforts to escape extradition back to Israel.
The rabbi was arrested in Amsterdam last year, but escaped before he could be extradited, and made his way back to South Africa, having previously sought shelter there after being expelled from Zimbabwe in 2014.
Berland’s alleged sexual misdemeanors first came to light in 2012, after he was found by one of his followers at his home standing next to a naked woman, details of which were relayed to Yisrael Hayom.
The South African Jewish Report reported in November last year that “The elusive rabbi is said to have quietly returned to South Africa with several hundred followers and supposedly with a custom- built compound which can accommodate many hundreds more.”
Chief Rabbi of South Africa Warren Goldstein warned the local Jewish community against cooperating with Berland or his followers in any way and had called on him to return to Israel to face the charges against him.
Berland’s supporters fiercely criticized Goldstein, and even threatened him with violence for this position.
Goldstein, along with several South African Jewish organizations, including the Board of Deputies, Zionist Federation and Union of Orthodox Synagogues, issued a joint statement saying “Rabbi Berland is a fugitive from justice and the only solution to the current situation is for him to return to Israel and for the criminal justice system to take its due course.”
What a sleazy guy. He isn’t a Rabbi, he’s a cult leader.
About time they got this Charlton. They should put him in a cell together with Helbrans.
It’s about time. He needs to face the music. If he’s found guilty, then he deserves his consequence. If he is innocent, he needs to be able to prove it. I do not like to suspect people, but his flying the world on the escape since being identified suggests quite strongly that he is not the holy man he purports to be. If he is for real, the trial will prove so.
He is a very holy man. All sorts of allegations are made against holy men, suggestions like those made against this tzaddik, allegations of non payment of debts and all sorts of other things. Those who make them need a great refua as they are just jealous and do not see kedusha when it is in front of them. I know from personal experience.
He can join Pinto’s Kollel