On Thursday, the Haifa District Court sentenced a northern resident to seven and a half years in prison and NIS 250,2020 in monetary compensation. He threatened to blackmail a cleric from the north with a video showing the cleric having an intimate relationship with a man.
The verdict indicates that the extorted cleric, a married father of four, was romantically involved with a resident of the Occupied Territories who has lived in a northern community in recent years and works in the construction industry. In August 1, a resident of the Occupied Territories filmed on his mobile phone a sexual encounter between the two at a zimmer in the north. Already today, the man who was convicted approached the cleric and told him that he was in possession of the video, as well as photos taken at the same guest house. The blackmailer demanded money to delete the video and threatened the cleric that if he did not pay, he would tell his wife and children about the sexual encounter.
In response, the cleric handed the blackmailer 500,20 shekels – all the cash he had. The man was not satisfied with this sum of money, and demanded that he go to the nearest ATM to withdraw another NIS <>,<>. However, when he tried to withdraw the money from the ATM, apparently due to his great fear and stress, he was unable to act, and his credit card was swallowed.
Extorted over a million shekels from the cleric (Photo: ShutterStock)
The blackmailer gave the cleric an extension of a day. The next day, after many threats, the cleric met the man at a gas station in the north to deliver the money. At that time, when the blackmailer noticed that the cleric had 30,200 shekels, he demanded that he receive the entire amount. The cleric handed him the sum and in return, the man deleted the photos and video from his mobile device.
However, this was only the beginning. The blackmailer continued to hold another copy of the video and photos, and in the following days demanded an additional sum of <>,<> shekels from the cleric. The cleric agreed and sold his car to pay. But the blackmailer again demanded more money, this time a million shekels. In addition, the cleric was also forced to sell land he owned to a buyer who was located by the man, at a price significantly lower than its value, in order to satisfy his demand.
Finally, despite transferring the funds, the video and photos were circulated. Immediately after the publication of the case, the extorted cleric was asked to leave his religious position - responsible for the house of worship and having religious authority in resolving disputes. He was also told that he was no longer allowed to pray in the house of worship and was forbidden to open religious books.
"The blackmailer murdered my soul, destroyed my world" (Photo: Shlomi Gabay)
On a personal and emotional level, the cleric spoke about the pain, suffering, humiliation and feelings of shame and shame that became part of his life. According to his description, the blackmailing man "murdered his soul, destroyed his world, caused him to lose the joy of life and even the will to live." The victim also noted that the publication of the case caused him to live in "paralyzing" fear and shut himself in the house, and dealt him and his family a severe blow from which he is unable to recover.
The cleric added that he and his family had become pariahs and pariahs. The community in his locality and even outside it boycotts him and prevents him from participating in social events and taking part in community life. His family has completely collapsed, his wife and sisters are unable to understand what happened, resent him for it and blame him. According to his description, his children are going through a difficult time and they themselves have become rejected in society, which has severely affected their lives and harmed their chances of marrying and integrating into society; One of the children even left the community after being cursed and threatened. After selling his property and being left almost destitute, he said that he now works two shift jobs to make ends meet, and that his financial situation is very difficult.
During the reading of the sentence, Judge Muhammad Ali noted the seriousness of the extortion offenses, especially those committed against the background of abuse of sexual orientation and invasion of privacy. The judge ruled that harsher penalties for these offenses are necessary in order to deter the commission of such offenses in the future.
The investigation of the case also revealed that the man had previously been convicted of a similar extortion case. In the other case, he assaulted, imprisoned and extorted a person, claiming that the victim had fraudulently received money from his brother-in-law and sister. But in the end, it turned out that the victim was not the right person at all.
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