Police investigate influential rabbi, wife for bribery

JERUSALEM — Israeli police are investigating a prominent Israeli rabbi on suspicion that he tried to bribe a high-ranking police officer for access to sensitive information.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Friday that Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto and his wife were questioned by police. He said the investigation is in progress.

Pinto, 39, is one of Israel’s wealthiest and most influential rabbis and has a strong following of considerable ethnic and religious diversity in Israel and the US. He began his ministry in his early twenties and splits his time between the two countries.

With the help of personal charisma, the ability to speak in simple parables, and a savvy PR operation, Pinto has become known as a wonder rabbi and a counselor both to the downtrodden and to Israel’s business and political elites. When he holds court at his seaside villa in Ashdod, the living room fills with supplicants looking for blessings or advice.

In August, the FBI arrested an Israeli aide of the rabbi. The agency has investigated claims that other followers of the rabbi made illegal campaign contributions to a New York Republican in his 2009 bid for Congress.

Israel’s Channel 2 TV said Pinto tried to bribe the officer for access to a police file pertaining to him.