JERUSALEM (AP) – For decades, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav was one of Israel’s most recognizable faces, widely respected for establishing an ultra-Orthodox rescue service that cared for the victims of Palestinian attacks and bridged the divide between religious and secular Israelis.
But over the past few days, Meshi-Zahav has come face to face with a growing list of defendants who say he has committed horrific acts of sexual abuse of men, women and children over several decades.
The scandal almost destroyed the reputation of a man who a few weeks ago received the Israel Prize, the country’s highest civilian honor, for his lifelong achievements. It also shed light on the scourge of sexual abuse in the insular world of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community.
“As far as ultra-Orthodox in particular are concerned, there is a very strong code of silence,” said Manny Waks, a lawyer for victims of sexual abuse in Jewish communities, and himself a survivor of abuse in his native Australia.
‘There is a closed community mentality, us towards them. Putting all these things together is a recipe for disaster, especially in the context of child sexual abuse, ‘he said.
While Meshi-Zahav denied the allegations, his accused provided similar accounts. They say that Meshi-Zahav used his public prestige to molest and sexually exploit women, boys and girls, and that the ultra-Orthodox community protected him with a wall of silence.
A victim identified with the letter ‘N’ told Yedioth Ahronot on Sunday that he first met Meshi-Zahav in 1996 when he was 16 and Meshi-Zahav was 20 years his senior.
‘All the people close to him during those years knew that I was his companion. “I have become a prostitute in the full sense of the word,” he said.
Meshi-Zahav was once a member of a radical ultra-Orthodox sect that opposed Israel’s existence because he believed that a Jewish state could only be established after the arrival of the Messiah. His view changed after a devastating bus attack of 1989 in Jerusalem near 16 people.
Meshi-Zahav joined volunteers who helped collect the remains of the victims, in accordance with Jewish custom of honoring the dead. He said the experience taught him that everyone’s pain is equal.
These efforts led to the establishment of ZAKA in 1995, whose volunteers helped identify the victims of disasters and suicide bombings and collected their remains for a Jewish funeral. Over time, the group expanded to paramedics for first responders, gaining great respect in Israel.
Meshi-Zahav received several honors and became a symbol of moderation in the often strained relations between Israel’s secular and ultra-Orthodox Jews.
He was invited to light a ceremonial torch during the celebration of Israel’s Independence Day and recently begged fellow members of the ultra-Orthodox community to respect coronavirus safety measures after both his parents died of COVID-19. At the time, he said the rabbis who encouraged followers to ignore the safety rules had ‘blood on their hands’.
Earlier this month, Meshi-Zahav, 61, was awarded the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement. He burst into tears when Education Minister Yoav Gallant made the news, saying the award belonged to ZAKA’s thousands of volunteers.
The acknowledgment seems to have been the trigger that led to his defendants coming forward after years of silence.
It began last Thursday, when the Haaretz published daily reports of six alleged victims accusing Meshi-Zahav of rape, sexual molestation and harassment.
In response, Meshi-Zahav wrote a letter saying “this libel is unfounded and looks more like gossip and closing accounts against me.” He said he was taking a breather as director of ZAKA and giving up the Israel Prize, but denied any wrongdoing.
Since then, the drop of evidence has turned into an avalanche.
Israeli police announced on Sunday that the main crime unit, Lahav 433, had begun a formal investigation. On Monday, Hebrew media reported that in 2013, police investigated similar allegations against him, but closed the investigation due to lack of evidence.
ZAKA, meanwhile, issued a statement expressing “shock and astonishment” and said the allegations against Meshi-Zahav “evoked deep disgust, shock and disgust, light years away from the values that characterize the organization.”
Statistics on sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox world are hard to come by.
Waks, who leads the advocacy group VoiCSA, said the general estimate in Israeli society is that one in six boys and one in four girls have experienced sexual abuse. He said there is nothing to suggest that the numbers in the ultra-Orthodox world differ.
“Many of us would argue that there is a greater vulnerability that could lead to a greater number of abuses,” he said. These include the lack of sex education, the inability to keep a close eye on children due to large families and the general trust among adults in close communities.
He called the allegations against Meshi-Zahav ‘shocking but not surprising’, and said he hoped it would encourage other alleged victims to come forward. He also urged Israel to abolish the statute of limitations in such cases.
The current statute of limitations for sexual abuse in the family or with a close member of the community, such as a teacher or doctor, is set at twenty years from the time the victim turns 18. In other cases, the statute of limitations for molestation is three to five years, and ten years in cases of rape.
In an important case highlighting the abuse in the ultra-Orthodox world, Israel extradited Malka Leifer, a former Orthodox teacher on 74 charges of child sexual abuse, to Australia in January after a lengthy legal battle.
Shana Aaronson, executive director of Magen for Jewish Communities, an Israeli interest group for survivors of sexual abuse, said at least six people had approached the organization about Meshi-Zahav. According to her, the first accusations appeared about six years ago.
“The person was no longer willing to discuss it, go to the police or something like that,” she said.
She said the spectrum of complaints that have surfaced against Meshi-Zahav paints a picture of a certain personality of someone who has incredible confidence in the fact that he is just getting away with it. ‘
The Israeli Ministry of Education, which awards the Israel Prize, has not yet commented on Meshi-Zahav. But Miriam Peretz, a member of the prize committee and the Israel Prize winner, spoke out.
“We all on the committee categorically condemn this whole horrible thing,” she told Israeli public broadcaster Kan.