The Jerusalem District Court today (Monday) convicted Rabbi Moshe Yazdi, who founded and headed the Pillars of Peace association, of serious crimes against two women, who were his students and members of his community, out of eight included in the indictment filed against him.
According to a report by Vered Pelman in Kan News, according to the verdict, Yazdi committed his actions while exploiting his religious and social status, the power gap, and the trust placed in him. He was also convicted of fraud against another woman and money laundering.
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According to the judges, part of Yazdi's acquittal is due to the statute of limitations.
The panel of judges, headed by Judge Hagit Mack-Kalmanowitz, ruled: "The defendant also exploited the women financially, and would demand that they pay large sums of money for unclear purposes, while taking advantage of the trust they placed in him.
""The defendant's testimony and his denials are not credible in our eyes. He behaved in a manipulative manner, claiming that he suffers from mental illness, and this claim was completely false.".
After the verdict was handed down, some of the victims expressed disappointment and chanted slogans against Yazdi and his family in the courtroom.
At the end of the discussion, Yazdi told Kan News: "Out of eight women, two remain, and they too will fall," as he put it.
One of the victims whose case the Rabbi acquitted told 'Kan News': "20 years of my life and in the end they only talk about money laundering - the smallest point in the whole story I went through. I gave my whole life for this, I did everything for this and I'm just shocked. I'm still trying to digest it.".
Attorney Ravit Zilberfarb, who represents several of the victims, said in response to his conviction: "A state of loss, of shock. We cannot digest how complete testimonies that were heard for days and weeks are actually rejected by the court for reasons that we have not yet been able to trace, because we have not yet been able to read the court's reasoning. We will read and try to understand, but this is one of the days when we see that the principles of law conflict with the principles of universal justice.".
