Rabbi Berland on the way to a plea bargain: He will plead guilty and serve a year and a half in prison.

7 June 2021   

The State Attorney's Office and Rabbi Eliezer Berland's attorneys reached a plea agreement today (Monday), including an agreement on punishment. The agreement will be presented at 12:00 in the Jerusalem District Court. According to the agreement, the 82-year-old leader of the Shuvo Banim movement, who is charged with 16 counts of extortion and receiving something by fraud, is expected to serve 18 months in prison, minus the months he has already spent in detention. This means that Rabbi Berland, who has already served a prison sentence for serious offenses, will be released in the near future. After a year in detention, which is expected to continue until the end of the proceedings against him, the Jerusalem District Court decided to release him to house arrest, with one of the conditions being that his place of detention be kept secret from members of the Shuvo Banim community, and that he be prohibited from coming into contact with his people. Recall that last January it was announced that, following criticism of the plea agreement, the prosecution withdrew its submission of a plea agreement, and the trial against him continued. The decision to cancel the plea agreement was made after several of the victims, who had threatened to petition the High Court, contacted Deputy State Attorney, attorney Momi Lemberger, and demanded a harsher sentence.