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	Mazuz Told Police in 2006: No Charges against Rabbi Elon By Tomer Zarchin Haaretz February 17, 2010 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1150381.html Police were informed about alleged misconduct by Rabbi Mordechai Elon as early as October 2006, a letter sent yesterday from Raz Nizri, senior aide to the Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, to Takana rabbinical forum director Rabbi Yehudit Shilat revealed. According to Nizri, former attorney general Menachem Mazuz passed on the details of the complaint, alleging sexual misconduct by the rabbi, to former police investigation and intelligence head, Maj. Gen. Yohanan Danino, along with materials received from Takana. Police confirmed the complaint and materials were handed over to them, and stressed that Mazuz recommended they don't investigate the matter. The first communication between the attorney general and the forum took place in June 2006. Professor Yedidia Stern, a member of the forum, approached Mazuz about a specific issue concerning a "senior rabbi," who was left unnamed. Later on, information on the rabbi was delivered in a meeting attended by Mazuz, Nizri and then-state prosecutor, Eran Shendar. According to Nizri, in 2006 the attorney general's office told the forum that Mazuz was considering passing the material to the police as there was a risk Elon carried out indecent acts of which the forum was not informed. The information was duly passed on. The police decided not to appeal Mazuz's decision to not begin a criminal investigation against the rabbi. The attorney general's office also told the forum that following careful consideration, Mazuz decided to let Takana continue with their internal proceedings against Elon - among other reasons, because of the forum's sensitivity to the special circumstances of the affair, and because the estimate was there was no point in pressing criminal charges, as the complainant was adamantly refusing to file an official complaint or cooperate in any way with the police. Nizri's letter also said that in the event suspicions arise of a criminal offense during the process conducted by the forum, they will be obliged to inform Mazuz. In the letter, Nizri says that at a meeting held between the forum and Mazuz in January, the forum said it thought Elon was not keeping to the limits set for him, and they feared other victims may not be aware of the forum's existence and work on the case. They therefore asked Mazuz to give them legal backing when they went public. According to Nizri, Mazuz made clear that the Justice Ministry could not give the forum, an independent voluntary organization, legal counseling on making the issue public, and that this was entirely their decision.
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