High Court To Decide Whether Accused Haredi Pedophile Who Fled Arrest In Britain Can Get Asylum In Israel

Does the Law of Return trump international law? This question will have to be ruled on by the High Court of Justice, following an attempt by a haredi Jew from England, who was convicted of sexual abuse of children, to find asylum in Israel.

 

Ynet reports:

Does the Law of Return trump international law? This question will have to be ruled on by the High Court of Justice, following an attempt by an ultra-Orthodox Jew from England, who was convicted of sexual abuse of children, to find asylum in Israel.

The man has been detained already for over a half year. In a rare instance, the Interior Ministry decided not to grant him standing under the Law of Return, due to the heavy suspicions against him in the UK.

Now the issue comes before the High Court, which is expected to rule soon, in an unusual case – is it possible to grant standing under the Law of Return to a Jew accused of pedophilia who has fled his home country in order to escape prosecution?

An indictment was filed aginst T., 48, for indecent assault on a minor. After charges were announced, T. fled to Israel together with his family. But when he landed, he was arrested for using a fake passport.

The Immigration Authority refused to grant him standing under the Law of Return due to the charges against him in the UK, and even sought to deport him back to his homeland.

In response, T. filed an appeal with the High Court via Attorney Amit Hadad from the law firm of Attorney Jacob Weinroth.

Who is "T"?

Apparently Rabbi Todros Grynhaus from Manchester.

Todros Grynhaus Posts. (And here.)

Comments

[talmidhagun]

please stop referring to him as a Rabbi, he did not take semicha , and is not a Rabbi

[Yochanan Lavie]

Meyer Lansky could not use the Law of Return, so why can this guy?

[S M L]

It would be a mistake for Israel to allow this to happen. It'd give the anti-Israeli lobby throughout the West ammunition to use against Israel and they'd be right to use it. A Jewish criminal is still a criminal. It's not as if he was persecuted and charged with a crime for being a Jew. England isn't Nazi Germany or Russia.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

This is why the frumma cannot be allowed bail.

[Avi Rosenthal]

Didn't the Knesset pass a law, after the American murderer Shmuel Sheinbein fled to Israel, that prevents criminals from getting asylum in Israel under the Law of Return?

[anuran]

Why would kofir law matter to fundamentalists?

[Barry]

Talmidhagun - Grynhaus was a long time mechanach, having taught hundreds of children. That makes him a rabbi in most peoples book.

[talmidhagun]

Barry, i would respectfully disagree. technically, the translation of Rabbi is teacher, true, but in its general usage, it refers specifically to someone who is "ordained" (for want of a better term!)
grynhaus was never ordained, though he did teach.

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

Please.

The Chofetz Chaim didn't have smicha.

If a person fulfills the role of a rabbi when actual rabbis could fulfill it and no senior rabbi complains, the man is rabbi. Period.

[talmidhagun]

Shmarya, please!
you are far more intelligent than that. The Ch. Chayim acted as a Rabbi, and Posek. on the other hand, there are many, many classroom teachers who are not, nor claim to be, Rabbis!
doesnt diminish the severity of the alleged offenses one iota, but i am fed up of seeing every charedi felon described as a Rabbi

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

Sigh.

He was (and is ) regularly called "rabbi" in and outside of his own community.

[Jewie Kikestein]

Smicha has no official status, as the chain is.acknowledged to have been broken for milleniah and the conditions which the rambam says are necessary to restore it have not, by any means, been satisfied. Nonetheless, I would view the assumption of the title Rabbi as a black mark against the.character of a person who would include himself in such ignorant and corrupt company as the multitudes of those using such a title and the here and now.