Fugitive Israeli rabbi nabbed at Amsterdam airport

Eliezer Berland had been on the run from sexual allegations for over a year in the African continent

By ToI Staff 11 September 2014, 5:05 pm

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Rabbi Eliezer Berland participates in a mass prayer session at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, on January 25, 2012. (Uri Lenz/Flash90)

Authorities at Amsterdam airport arrested an Israeli ultra-Orthodox rabbi who fled Israel last year after being accused of sexual assault by two women, the rabbi’s followers reported on Thursday.

Dutch and Israeli law enforcement officers seized Eliezer Berland, the founder of the Shuvu Bonim religious seminary in Israel, shortly after his plane landed at the airport.

Berland fled to Morocco in 2013 after police opened an investigation into accusations leveled by the wives of two of his followers in 2012. He moved on to Zimbabwe after his residency permit expired and Moroccan authorities declined to extend it, before relocating in South Africa after authorities in Zimbabwe got wind of the allegations against him in Israel.

Acting on an international warrant, South African police attempted to apprehend Berland on at least two occasions, according to South African news site IOL. Most recently, he evaded arrest on Monday night in Johannesburg.

“Our team tried to nab him. We had a mini roadblock and as soon as he saw that, he jumped out of the car he was traveling in and into a BMW that was nearby. The BMW climbed on the pavements and drove on them, hitting people’s trees and pot plants as they fled. We could not shoot at him because it is not how we wanted to operate this. We know that we will get him,” spokesman Paul Ramoloko said.

Berland had also escaped capture several months earlier, when police tried to arrest him at a wedding he was officiating.

“This man surrounded himself with a group of about 12 people or more. They were all wearing black coats and looked the same. The way things were, we would have arrested the wrong person. We asked people we found there where he was and they said he was not there. It is not easy to arrest him but our guys don’t sleep — they are constantly looking for him,” Ramoloko said.

Berland, a charismatic figure from the Hassidic Breslov sect, drew dozens of followers to Morocco during his seven-month sojourn there — including his grandson, who chose to celebrate his wedding in Marrakech in the rabbi’s presence. Dozens moved there to be with him, and hundreds more showed up on holidays.

JTA contributed to this report.