Israel Rabbi Found Guilty of Child Abuse

AFP
August 7, 2013

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Rabbi Mordechai Elon waits for his sentence in court in Jerusalem, on August 7, 2013

JERUSALEM — An Israeli rabbi was on Wednesday found guilty of sexually abusing a minor, public radio said.

A Jerusalem court ruled that influential Zionist rabbi Mordechai Elon had "inappropriately" touched a young boy on two separate occasions in 2005, the radio quoted a lawyer as saying.

Elon, 53, had repeatedly professed his innocence and pleaded not guilty, saying the charges amounted to "defamation". It was unclear when he will be sentenced.

Elon is a leading Zionist rabbi and belongs to a branch of Judaism popular among Israeli settlers that distinguishes itself from the country's ultra-Orthodox establishment.

The rabbi has hosted a weekly television show discussing the Torah and takes an openly anti-homosexual stance.

He was head of the Yeshiva HaKotel, a religious seminary located next to the Western Wall in the heart of annexed east Jerusalem's Old City, but left in 2006.