Was there a guarantee of silence?
Jacob Tesler (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Deputy Minister Yaakov Tesler (Torah Judaism) was allegedly involved in the termination of a criminal investigation against his father, Ephraim Tesler, following suspicions of sexual offenses committed by at least four boys who attended the yeshiva he headed - this was published today (Thursday) in "Haaretz".
The police closed the case against the head of the "Damascus Eliezer" yeshiva in Jerusalem after the victims did not cooperate with them.
According to the report, it appears from the testimony of the boys that after being pressured, they agreed not to testify against Tesler, and in return he would be removed from the yeshiva.
It was also reported that a silence agreement was signed with at least one of the boys, so that he would not resort to criminal proceedings.
According to the evidence, the deputy minister was a guarantor that his father would be removed from the yeshiva.
The investigation was closed in 2018, after about two years during which Tessler was removed from the yeshiva by the Vizhnitz Hasidim.
In November 2017, the head of the yeshiva was arrested and the police charged him with suspicion of sodomy acts on minors aged 14-16, suspicion of non-consensual sodomy act and suspicion of indecent act.
According to two testimonies, Yaakov Tesler, the son of the head of the Yeshiva who was appointed this week as the Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports, was involved, along with the leaders of Hasidism, in the process of impeaching his father, in order to prevent the criminal proceedings and the cooperation of the boys with the police.
The affair was kept a secret in Hasidism and elements in Torah Judaism were not aware that it had taken place.
Jacob Tessler, Wizenitz's representative in the Agudath Israel party which is part of Torah Judaism, was elected to the Knesset for the first time in 2019, served in it until 2021 and was re-elected to the current Knesset.
Before that, he was a member of the Ashdod city council and assistant to the former minister Yaakov Litzman in the Ministry of Health.
His father, Ephraim, is one of the leading rabbinic figures in Hasidism centered in Bnei Brak.
The father was for many years the head of the yeshiva which is intended for boys aged 13-16.
news
News in Israel
Criminal and legal news
Tags
Vizhnitz Hassidism
Jacob Tesler
