Zaka emergency founder, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, accused of molesting minors
Allegations, which the rabbi who created the emergency response organisation categorically denies, refer to incidents as recently as 2011
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, one of Israel’s best-known rabbis and founder of the Zaka emergency response organisation, has been accused of sexually assaulting minors.
The allegations, which Meshi-Zahav has categorically denied, appeared in an expose publishedThursday by Haaretz.
The most recent incident occurred in 2011, according the alleged victim, a young woman from Charedi circles.
“He forcibly undressed me,” the woman, who was not named, was quoted as telling Haaretz. He then “forced himself” on her and threatened that a Zaka squad car would run her over if she told anyone, she said.
Meshi-Zahav, 61, who this month was named the laureate of the Israel Prize, Israel’s highest civilian distinction, for his work to build bridges between secular and religious Israelis, told Haaretz that their expose on him “included vague, anonymous claims that go back decades. Let me say immediately that they are baseless.”
On Friday, hours after police announced they were opening an investigation of the claims, Meshi-Zahav announced that he was declining the Israel Prize and taking a leave of absence from Zaka.
Another complainant interviewed by Haaretz was a 16-year-old Charedi boy in the 1990s when he said Meshi-Zahav molested him in Jerusalem.
The alleged abuse was spread over four years, during which the complainant said he became a “prostitute in the full sense of the word.” Meshi-Zahav “would arrive and do with me as he pleased” in a room at the complainant’s former high school, he told Haaretz.
“We did everything, but there was no penetration,” the complainant said. “He tried a few times and I refused.”
Police suspected Meshi-Zahav of sex crimes against 16-year-olds in 2013, but the investigation was closed without an indictment. No police complaint has been field against Meshi-Zahav.
The Haaretz expose included additional accounts of alleged groping and alleged extortion of sexual favours from minors by Meshi-Zahav from the 1980s onward, including interviews with three alleged victims.
Meshi-Zahav has denied them all, saying the accounts are the result of attempts at score-settling by his rivals and enemies.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
