Netanyahu ‘rejects’ minister’s effort to help sex offender rabbi enter Ukraine

The Prime Minister’s Office puts out a statement stressing that he does not support an effort by Minister for Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Heritage Meir Porush to help convicted sex offender Rabbi Eliezer Berland to try to beat a visa ban on entering Ukraine.

The statement from Netanyahu’s office says he “rejects the appeal” on the matter.

Porush faced demands today that he apologize for stepping in to help Berland make a pilgrimage to the city of Uman for the coming Rosh Hashanah holiday.

The Magen organization, which provides support for victims of sex abuse in the ultra-Orthodox community, said in a letter to Porush that it was “shocked” at reports of his assistance, which it described as a “rash and despicable” use of his position as a member of government.

Ukraine put Berland on its visa blacklist for a three-year period after he said in a speech that the country was invaded by Russia in 2022 as a punishment for Kyiv hindering members of his Shuvu Bonim sect from visiting Uman in recent years.