Chief Rabbi's Wife, Son Indicted In Kidnapping, Torture Case – Rabbi Blames Son

The wife and son of Israel's Sefardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar have been indicted for kidnapping and beating the boyfriend of Rabbi Amar's 18-year-old daughter.

Rabbi Amar had this to say about the indictments:

"My wife and I raised our children according to the belief that violence is wrong in all shapes and forms," the chief rabbi said. "I am saddened that my son Meir got into this situation I love him and pray to God that he will return to our family. I am also deeply saddened by the decision to press charges against my wife and am certain with my heart and soul that she was totally unaware of Meir intentions. I am also certain that in the end she will be found innocent."

However, this is what actually appears to have taken place:

[Meir] Amar, his friends from Kalansua and another friend of theirs, Ayala and the boy then drove to the chief rabbi's house in Jerusalem. Amar spoke to his father [the Chief Rabbi] and mother while the boy, his "guards" and their friend sat in the living room.

Mazal Amar-Sabag then went to the kitchen to make coffee for her son and his friends. From there she could see the boy in the living room with his captors. At 7:30 a.m., Meir Amar ordered the boy to leave the home, told him not to return to Jerusalem until 2007, not to carry a cellular phone, and not to have anything to do with girls for two years. He also told the boy that if he went to the police, they would kill him.

And then, this:

Shas Chairman Eli Yishai said he knew all along that the chief rabbi would not be charged in the affair. "The day is not far away when the rabanit will be cleared of the charges against her," Yishai said.

Does anyone really believe that if Rabbi Amar was a bricklayer or makolet owner instead of a Chief Rabbi with major political connections he would not be indicted?