Attorney Ephraim Damari

Attorney Ephraim Demari answers questions regarding the legal and medical status of our teacher, the holy Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, in an interview given to Channel 20.

From Attorney Demari's words, a very difficult picture emerges regarding the police's conduct concerning the situation of Rav Berland shlit"a. The interview is before you.

Rav Berland was imprisoned, so how was he arrested again in the meantime? The interviewer opened with a question that causes many to wonder.

"Greetings, last week Rav Berland entered to serve his prison sentence following another case. Within the framework of his imprisonment as a prisoner, it is permitted by law in Israel to file a request to arrest him again under the conditions of a detainee, meaning, an investigation is being conducted against him. There is a difference between a prisoner and a detainee; a prisoner has the conditions of a prisoner, open phone calls, and can walk outside the cell during the day, whereas a detainee is subject to certain restrictions... in order not to interfere with the investigation itself."

"What I can say is what has been published in the media so far; I will clarify this as someone who is well-versed in the secrets of the case and the investigation itself. It is likely that there is someone who cooperated with the police and provided versions and names; it seems that one of the names they provided is Rav Eliezer Berland, and following this, he was arrested and interrogated."

"It is important that you understand: this does not mean that if he was arrested and interrogated, it means they attribute involvement to him; it also does not mean that at the end of the day, an indictment will be filed against him for involvement."

"Let's assume he knew, and I am not saying he knew about the murder or where the body is located; that does not automatically link him to the murder itself. And here there is a very big problem for the police; the things I am saying are also what the police released to the media; they are relying on the connection in the confrontation with the brother of the late Shitrit."

"Rav Berland told him: You can say Kaddish for your brother, but the very fact that he said you can say Kaddish for your brother does not necessarily mean it links him to a murder case. It does not necessarily mean that; it could be that as a rabbi, he is telling him that he can say Kaddish for his brother, or sit shiva."

"Whether he apologized or did not apologize, we cannot talk about that at the moment. I can say one thing: as someone who also knows Rav Berland personally, I believe and am convinced that he was not a partner to anything related to the murder itself. Perhaps as a rabbi, perhaps I say, he knew about it when people came to consult with him as a rabbi, and for that, there is a privilege of a clergyman just like an attorney, a rabbi who is consulted, but not beyond that."

"In my estimation, Rav Berland did not allow anyone, G-d forbid, to murder, nor to hide a body."

Interviewer's question: Are you saying that his arrest is a kind of police tactic to get other suspects to talk?

"It could be!"

"More than that, I will reveal another secret to you, here is a scoop on your show: Rav Berland, who was announced in the media as having been arrested, was actually undergoing medical treatment. He was not arrested at all; only a few hours later did YAMAR (Central Unit) investigators reach him and summon him for questioning, but he was not arrested at the time it was published. From personal knowledge, I tell you, as someone who spoke with one of the attorneys who were there with him, he told me, 'Attorney Demari, listen, he was undergoing medical treatment in a place that is currently confidential.'"

Interviewer's question: So what is the meaning of saying that Rav Berland was arrested if he was not arrested?

"It could be that it is part of the investigation tactic! Once again, for the Israel Police, we will need a whole chapter; invite me sometime to your show and in a whole chapter I will teach you what police investigation tactics are, and it seems this is one of the police's investigation tactics - Rav Berland was not arrested, but the police published that he was arrested."

"I believe that with what they have as of this moment, it will not ripen into an indictment. This is, in my opinion, part of the campaign to dismantle and crumble the entire organization of the Breslov Chassidut, the entire organization of the Shuvu Banim yeshiva."

"There is one goal - to crumble everything around it; it seems it bothers someone or something specific. I have no idea how there are all these organizations that claim it is a cult, but it is not a cult at all - it is not a cult at all; these are chassidim who believe in a certain path, and therefore, from here to the formulation of an indictment, I think it is very, very far."

"If you look at the legal history of the State of Israel, very few people have been convicted for 'turning a blind eye' in the State of Israel. If I am not mistaken, it is in the case of Yitzhak Rabin, the late former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, where they convicted for turning a blind eye, but that is one of the rare cases. It is very, very difficult to convict for turning a blind eye."

"The medical condition of Rav Berland is not good; we are talking about an elderly Jew, 84 years old, with very significant underlying illnesses which, for the sake of privacy, we will not detail, but he is very ill."