Another rape in 'Israel' with a top rabbi involved

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
20 Dec 2022 23:53
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Following weekly protests outside the Israeli parliament, Israeli settler Nehama Teena has urged an investigation into a prominent rabbi she accuses of rape.

Israeli rabbis (Archive)

Israeli settler Nehama Teena has demanded an investigation into a renowned rabbi she accuses of rape through weekly demonstrations outside the Israeli Knesset, focused on breaking the taboo on sexual assault in the extremist Jewish community.

"I'm not asking that they take my word for it, only that they listen to me and stop preventing victims from speaking," the 38-year-old mother of five said as quoted by AFP.

In a Facebook post, Teena accused 84-year-old rabbi Zvi Thau of raping her over several years, including while she was a minor.

Thau is the head of one of “Israel’s” most influential Jewish study centers, the “Har Hamor yeshiva”.

He is also the spiritual head of the far-right Noam party that secured one parliament seat in “Israel's” November elections and struck a deal with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to support his next government, which received a backlash from other Israeli politicians, mainly Israeli Knesset member Gadi Eisenkot who promised that if Netanyahu harms the "national interests of Israel, Israeli democracy, state education," and the IOF, "the way to deal with it is to take a million people out to the streets. I will be among them."

His threat came in response to placing Avi Maoz, the head of the extremist Noam Party, to which Thau belongs, in Netanyahu's office, charging him with tasks that give him the authority to interfere with educational materials in schools and harm what he called "Israeli democracy".

Teena is not the only settler to report sexual assault by the top Israeli rabbi. Another woman, Dorit Lang, also came forward with similar accusations dating back 40 years.

Despite all the accusations, Israeli media reported Monday that he could be cleared in a probe opened several weeks ago under the pretext of a lack of decisive evidence.

A culture of rape

"Israel" is no stranger to such scandals among politicians and prominent figures. Former Israeli occupation Prime Minister Shimon Peres' predecessor, PM Moshe Katzav, was found guilty of rape and served a jail term. In addition, former Minister of Security Yitzhak Mordechai and Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon were also imprisoned for sexual assault.

Around one of four Israeli women in the occupation's prison administration and the Israeli police has been subjected to sexual violence, Israeli media has recently revealed.

"According to a special report on the protection of female soldiers and conscripts in the units of the Israeli Ministry of Public Security by State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman, one out of four female conscripts in the prisons administration and the police have been subjected to sexual violence," Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said.

"No one bothers to protect female soldiers and conscripts from harassment by security prisoners, even after their service ends," the report added.

The report's findings said 25% of females performing their compulsory service, which usually begins at 18, have been subjected to sexual abuse.

"22% of conscripts serving in the police, 27% of conscripts serving in the border guard, and 38% of conscripts serving in the prisons administration confessed that they had been harassed and sexually abused during their military service," the report revealed.

"70% of those who filed complaints reported that their complaints were not dealt with at all or at least adequately," the report further said.