Police arrest revered Haredi rabbi suspected of preying on underage girls

Police on Sunday arrested a prominent Haredi rabbi suspected of committing sexual offenses against several young women, some of whom were underage girls at the time of the alleged incidents.

Rabbi Haim Yosef Abergel — a revered rabbi from Netivot known for his unwavering support for IDF conscription and secular studies — is suspected of exploiting his power to pressure girls as young as 12 into divulging sexually explicit information about themselves, according to Hebrew reports.

His victims had approached him seeking halachic advice regarding their personal relationships and family issues. Instead, he was said to have questioned the girls over phone calls about their sexual desires and “immodest thoughts,” Ynet reported.

One complainant recounted to Ynet that the rabbi had asked her, “If she touches herself and it feels good.”

“I didn’t know anything about it, what it means or that it even exists. I was barely 12 years old,” she said.

In another case, the rabbi allegedly physically assaulted a woman in her early 20s who had sought out marriage advice. According to testimony she gave to Ynet, the rabbi pulled up her shirt and groped her chest, all while promising that his actions would help her overcome her fear of getting married.

Police suspect the rabbi of indecent acts, indecent acts using force or threats, obstruction of the investigation, blackmail by threats and sexual harassment.

Abergel has denied the allegations against him, according to his attorney Efraim Damari. Speaking to Ynet, Damari expressed confidence that he would “refute all the allegations” against his client.

Police arrested alongside Abergel one of his associates, Erez Aharon, the director-general of the rabbi’s educational institutions. He is suspected of obstructing justice and witness tampering, presumably in an effort to cover up the suspected sex crimes.

Officers in the Southern District opened the investigation into Abergel several weeks ago, after receiving several complaints, law enforcement said in a statement Sunday.

The two suspects were brought on Sunday to the Beersheba Magistrate’s Court, where a judge extended Abergel’s detention by four days, and freed Aharon under restrictive conditions.

Abergel, earlier this year, announced that he would establish a new ultra-Orthodox party to compete with the Sephardi Haredi party Shas on a national level, after he enjoyed much success challenging its local dominance in Netivot.

He sought to create a Haredi political movement that supported the introduction of secular studies into ultra-Orthodox school curricula as well as military service for Haredim.

Abergel last year removed his Bnei Yosef school network from Shas’s Maayan HaChinuch HaTorani school network, transferring it to the state-Haredi education track, and beginning the process of introducing the state-mandated core curriculum.