The Jewish community in Porto announced today (Sunday) that it is suspending its activities until further notice, and does not grant approvals for the purpose of granting Portuguese citizenship.
This unprecedented move came in the wake of the arrest of Porto's chief rabbi Daniel Litvak last Thursday, amid suspicions that he helped oligarch Roman Abramovich obtain a certificate that granted him Portuguese citizenship illegally.
The Portuguese media reports that an investigation has also been opened into the process of obtaining the Portuguese citizenship of the Israeli-French millionaire Patrick Drahi, who is a native of Morocco.
The rabbi was released from custody on Friday and indictments were filed against him for accepting bribes, money laundering and tax evasion, after significant sums of money originating in question were discovered in his bank account.
In a press release issued in response, the Jewish community in Porto confirmed that other members of it were the target of a police search, after a complaint was filed from an anonymous source regarding irregularities in the process of granting citizenship certificates.
We further noted that the payments collected as a result of proceedings go through banks and are under the full supervision of the Ministry of Finance, and therefore it is not possible to embezzle these funds.
Roman Abramovich, Photo: IP
Rabbi Daniel Litvak heads the Jewish Committee in Porto, which recently confirmed that Roman Abramovich is a descendant of deportees from Spain and Portugal.
Following this, the Portuguese Ministry of Justice decided to grant Abramovich local citizenship under the Citizenship Law enacted in 2013. The decision drew much criticism, and although the community and the Portuguese Ministry of Justice contradicted and denied the allegations against them, a police investigation was opened. .
The media in Portugal covers the affair extensively.
Recently, a cover story in Republico, the major newspaper in Portugal, claimed that the community in Porto had become rich by granting citizenship certificates.
The long article includes very harsh remarks with a distinctly antisemitic tone.
Among other things, it says that "Jews like to do business" and that since the passage of the Citizenship Law, the community has established a kosher hotel, a mikveh, hired security guards and established a new museum, while before the passage of the law it was a modest and resource-free community.
Itai Moore - President of the Association "Beyond the Arc of Portugal": "This is a difficult and worrying event and there is no doubt that the members of the community are facing difficult days. At the same time, I believe in light of the blessed work And because of the developments, we get a wave of requests for help from people who are in the middle of obtaining citizenship and also requests from people who rejected the move and now want to start exercising their right to citizenship soon. It is important to remember that That option is still open. "
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