Police are investigating: Was Rabbi Berland involved in the two murders?

October 17, 2021   

The police are investigating whether Rabbi Eliezer Berland, the leader of the Shuvo Banim community himself, was involved in the murders and disappearances of Nissim Sheetrit and Avraham Edri in Jerusalem in 1986 and 1990. This was reported this evening (Sunday) in Kan News. At this stage, there is no progress in the search for the body of the teenager Nissim Sheetrit. One of the lawyers said today, during the court hearing on the extension of the detention of the three suspects arrested in the case: "The police are trying to associate the murders with Rabbi Berland through the chastity watch. The police are arresting everyone who was around Berland at the time and are thus trying to somehow reach him. These are testimonies that were given more than 30 years after the event by people with an interest in distancing themselves from him or in pleasing the investigating unit so that they will leave them alone." Isaac Winehouse, chairman of the Committee for the Victims of Cults, who is close to the suspects who left Shuvo Banim, responded: "Without referring to the current tragic case, let us recall that the Shuvo Banim community was declared a cult for all intents and purposes, and Rabbi Eliezer Berland - who was convicted and admitted to committing serious acts against women - has already been declared the head of a cult by the Center for Cult Victims. "Cult captives obey the leader's orders to murder family members or strangers and even commit suicide. The blood is on the hands of those who sent his captive followers, devoid of independent personality, to commit serious criminal acts of one kind or another." According to a report on Channel 13, Rabbi Berland violated the house arrest he has been under recently. According to the report, he was summoned for a hearing and received a warning. In a week, he is expected to return to prison and complete the remaining six months of his sentence, after being convicted of the offenses of extortion, fraud and threats - this after he had been under house arrest in recent months due to his medical condition. In June 2021, Rabbi Berland was sentenced to 18 months in prison, from which approximately 12 months that he was under arrest during the investigation and trial will be deducted.

""Good morning, that's what a journalist wishes for""

Journalist Shani Haziza, creator of the documentary "The Hidden Rabbi," which tells the story of the Shuvo Banim community and the murder cases of Nissim Sheetrit and Avraham Edri, told Channel 12 this morning about the arrest of the three suspects: "This is a big morning. When you're an investigative journalist who's been working on a case for several years, this is the thing you hope for the most. "I've known about it since this morning, this is a big morning. I'm very, very happy. You point out people and suddenly it turns into an investigation and arrests. We're very optimistic this morning. We really hope that this investigation will be over and there will be findings." The investigation that Haziza created was broadcast on Kan 11 about a year and a half ago, and centered on two unsolved criminal cases. In an interview she gave to Channel 12 in April, Haziza said that the investigation allegedly revealed a connection to the chastity guards of Rabbi Berland's Shuvo Banim community. "In the 1980s and 1990s, chastity guards in Jerusalem were something common. The evidence we presented and the findings lead us to believe that the person behind both cases was the chastity guard from the 'Shuvo Banim' community," she said at the time. "After the series aired, the Jerusalem Police asked for help and we brought them all the materials. We did everything we could, everything that didn't harm the sources and future journalistic work – went to them." In one case, she described, "we said we had materials that we were not willing to give, subject to the confidentiality of sources.".

The phone with the secret material disappeared - and was discovered in the BBC.

Towards the final stages of work on the series, in the editing rooms, Haziza's mobile phone disappeared. "To this day, I can't tell you whether I lost it or whether it was stolen," she says. "After I couldn't find it, I activated the service that allows me to locate the phone's location - it was in Bnei Brak. That set off red flags for me." In consultation with a private investigator she hired, it was decided to file a police report about the theft of the phone. "The complaint was closed due to lack of public interest. Even though I said it contained sensitive materials related to a murder case." After a few months, Haziza received a phone call informing her that the lost phone had been found. "The police said they would give it back to me. After a while, I demanded to have it. An investigator from the Jerusalem Police Department called me and said that he had the phone: 'But we want you to sign an order that allows us to hack it.'" In a conversation we had with her today, Haziza said that the phone is still with the police, and a gag order is imposed on all the content on it. In a previous interview with her, she clarified that her cellphone contains sensitive materials, including conversations with sources and unpublished documents. "The Jerusalem Police Department said that they understand that I am protecting my sources, but that they see a possibility of solving a murder case before their eyes.".