Dramatic decision: Special investigation team to investigate suspicions against Rabbi Zvi Tau

November 13, 2022   

After consultation with the prosecutor's office: The police decided today (Sunday) to establish a special investigation team to investigate the suspicions against Rabbi Zvi Tau, president of the 'Har HaMor' yeshiva, and the spiritual leader of the Noam party. According to a report by Moshe Nussbaum on Channel 12, the decision was made a few days after the investigation was opened against Rabbi Tau, and after consultation with the prosecutor's office. The 84-year-old rabbi, who is considered one of the most senior rabbis of religious Zionism, has complaints against him from several women who claim he harmed them decades ago. The special investigation team will try to locate the names of additional women whom the rabbi allegedly harmed. According to the report, the first complainant, Nechama Thane from Hebron, will be summoned to testify. Rabbi Yuval Sharlo will also be summoned to testify following a post he published in which he wrote that he knew of other women whom Rabbi Tau had harmed. The special investigation team will operate in the Judea region, under close supervision of the investigations officer in the Shi'ite District and the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office. According to a report by Yair Ettinger in Kan News, another woman claims that she was allegedly severely harmed by Rabbi Tao. According to the report, the woman accuses Rabbi Tao of an especially serious act, allegedly committed about 40 years ago in the rabbi's home in Jerusalem. At the initiative of one of the rabbis, the woman gave testimony in front of a home camera, in which she allegedly recounts a detailed story. Senior rabbis watched this video, and in recent days, as a result, they have issued a public call for the investigation of Rabbi Tao, hence its crucial public importance, even if not criminal. Ettinger notes that this woman is linked on a daily basis to a very senior rabbi from the Haredi branch, who is aware of her actions and is backing her up. It should be emphasized that her testimony apparently has no criminal weight - because the statute of limitations has expired.