Jerusalem – Charedi Men Targeted In Israeli Nightclub Extortion Plot

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    IllustrationJerusalem – Two Israeli men have been arrested in connection with an extortion scheme involving Haredi men.

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    Cousins Yehonatan Elroi and Ehud Benisti concocted a plot to surreptitiously photograph Haredi men who frequented the Amsterdam nightclub in Tel Aviv, according to a report in Maariv (http://bit.ly/TxK0Dd).

    Elroi and Benisti would follow the men home to learn where they lived and then call the men to blackmail them into paying large sums of money to prevent the photographs from being leaked.

    The pair was arrested in a sting operation last month after a married father of two received the threatening phone call from the duo and decided to contact the police. The unidentified target said he was in the middle of singing songs after lighting Chanukah candles when he got the call.

    “In that moment, my blood ran cold and my head began to spin,” the victim said. “I saw my whole world destroyed before me. [I saw] my wife divorcing me and my children expelled from their schools. It doesn’t matter what I actually did in the nightclub. In our extreme community, such a thing is the end of you.” After receiving the call demanding $20,000, the victim contacted Dudi Zilbershlag – a well-known Haredi businessman who was blackmailed by a young woman after he was videotaped in a “compromising position” in a hotel room in 2011 – for advice. Zilbershlag told the victim to contact the police.

    The police told the target to arrange to meet Elroi and Benisti and offer them $7,200 in exchange for the photographs. When the men showed up to claim the money, the police arrested them following a brief chase.


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    43 Comments
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    11 years ago

    Actually, its a good sign that at least a few chareidi guys are willing to “let their payos down” for an hour or two and relax like normal people do in EY and everywhere else throughout the world. This blackmail is intolerable and should be severely punished. A yid, whatever his/her hashkafah should be free to engage in legal recreation without fear of blackmail or extortion.

    PaulinSaudi
    PaulinSaudi
    11 years ago

    I recall that a Soviet ambassador in Africa was once lured into a honey trap by the British or Americans. When they threatened to release the photos, he offered to buy them as souvenirs of a wonderful evening.

    When (the first) Duke of Wellington was blackmailed by someone threatening to publish details of his three-way marriage, he replied “Publish and be damned!”

    11 years ago

    i dont get it, if he’s going to nightclubs and his wife doesn’t approve then he’s living a lie, i can’t imagine that he has a good marriage… people need to be honest with themselves and their families especially when it comes to frumkeit.

    people look for a shiddouch that seems great (learning boy – pious girl etc…) but in reality they are not being truthful to themselves as to who they are and what they believe in.

    maybe if there was more emes (truth) in the world then people would be happier and these kind of incidents wouldn’t happen.

    11 years ago

    The fact that the victim had someone frum to turn to – which is what saved him – tells me that this kind of blackmail is prevalent in the chareidi community because people are so afraid to open their mouths to anyone. It’s only because of that high profile case that they had someone to turn to for help.

    Berel13
    Berel13
    11 years ago

    Didn’t he realize that this is mesira ?

    Benny
    Benny
    11 years ago

    To #1
    “few chareidi guys are willing to “let their payos down” for an hour or two and relax like normal people do in EY and everywhere else throughout the world”
    What is chareidi?
    What is normal people?
    Since when do we learn from the rest of the world?

    If you are having a hard time and need some time to relax – it doesn’t mean you should go to those places
    Pick yourself up and go to nice vacation place (not to the place full of pritzus)

    stamm
    stamm
    11 years ago

    a clear lesson : what one does and says even behind closed doors, is ALL recorded and will one day have to pay the price, chas v”sholom..

    Babishka
    Member
    Babishka
    11 years ago

    Someone should open kosher nightclubs, separate clubs for men and women, also some mixed booths for married couples and shidduchim dates, so that people can go out and enjoy themselves once in a while!

    Duvid18
    Duvid18
    11 years ago

    what a person does is between him and Hashem, after 120 The Heavenly Bais Din already has those pictures/film clip and they will decide if the man/woman deserves to be punished. It is not the business of any human being to judge him except maybe the man’s wife and children. It is sad that bottom feeders try to extort money from people.

    lazerx
    lazerx
    11 years ago

    I think that the blackmailers should publish the pictures of the almost charadi men. Let this be a lesson to others who follow their yetzer hara instead of going to the beis medresh.

    honestbroker
    honestbroker
    11 years ago

    Kosher shrimp!
    Kosher lobster!
    Kosher ski vacations!
    Kosher zoomba!
    Kosher gangnam!
    We have to do everything they do.
    So why not kosher nightclubs?
    Any business partners looking to invest in a new venture, Kosher Z, located in the heart of NYC, all entertainment scrupulously arranged & appraised.

    BuckyinWisconsin
    BuckyinWisconsin
    11 years ago

    My guess is the “amsterdam” night club has a lot of the aspects of real Amsterdam. We all have our Yetzer Horas, but yes, this could be very damaging to a Chareidi person. Really, all said and done, a frum person should NOT be in these type of places, but the Yetzer Hora is a terrible beast, and strong as h-ll. How many of us have been to Vegas and seen the guys with long beards and Yankees! (always Yankees) ball caps go into places that are definitely not tzanua. They are fooling no one but themselves.

    enlightened-yid
    enlightened-yid
    11 years ago

    Let me guess, these same Charedi tzadikim that frequent night clubs–before they light their Hanuka candles–scream the loudest against immoral, secular Zionists who don’t live by “Torah values” and refuse to serve in impure IDF because they study Torah to protect the state, but still get themselves into “compromising positions” as any other group in society. Obviously something is not working with your model of lifestyle.

    lollypop
    lollypop
    11 years ago

    It doesn’t matter if ur allowed or not allowed that’s that guys problem! But blackmail should be arrested for!

    josebar
    josebar
    11 years ago

    The 2 extortionist should burn in gehinom and those weak charaidy men are a shame to the klall for openly being mechallel shaim shmayim berabim which has a punishment much worse then extortion. BH they were caught you see it works AYIN ROEH

    stamm
    stamm
    11 years ago

    After all said and done, hopefully this article will deter others.

    BLONDI
    BLONDI
    11 years ago

    what a shame that the chossids couldnt go to yoga to unwind a little…

    Queenbee
    Queenbee
    11 years ago

    I am as much disgusted with the fact that a frum man would frequent a night club as with the blackmailing. (Yeah I know it happens and I think it’s disgusting).

    If you feel you need to air out b’gashmuis then tell your wife to dress up in her best, rent out a room in a hotel somewhere for two nights and go have fun with your wife!!! If you davka want the dancing then go together with her!!!

    Going to a nightclub and watching pritzus and then coming home to tzind Chanukah licht while your wife thinks you were davening Mincha or finishing up in work, is living a LIE!! Period. Zehu. Such a man would have lost every ounce of trust in my eyes. No spouse deserves this.

    There are kosher ways to give out your gashmius’dig desires as is apparent by the majority of frum men who are Erlich inside out, Trustworthy and faithful to their wives and manage to have a gashmiusdig outlet that is kosher and within Torah as well as marriage guidelines.

    Queenbee
    Queenbee
    11 years ago

    For those saying that a woman wouldn’t divorce over this, you must be kidding. People are divorcing left and right nowadays for issues of much less importance. Having trust issues would be a biggie for many women nowadays to consider divorce.