Judge goes on a voluntary leave of absence after accusations of beating his children for years.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBAttorney-General Yehuda Weinstein 370 (R)(photo credit: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters)
A judge has gone on a voluntary extended leave of absence since being accused allegedly beating his children, a court spokesperson said.The senior judge has been reportedly beating his children for years and is under investigation, Israel Radio reported on Wednesday.The police have sought to interrogate the judge as part of their investigation for some time, but until now have been rebuffed by Attorney-General Weinstein, since a judge cannot be interrogated by police without the attorney-general’s permission.According to the report, a complaint was first filed against the judge in question three years ago, after one of the children’s teachers notified social services of the problem. The judge admitted to the teacher that he beat his children, apologized and expressed regret.However, there were additional reports of beatings following that, including much more recently.Initially on Wednesday, a court spokesman said he knew nothing about the issue and was hearing about it for the first time that day. Later Wednesday morning, the court spokesman added that now that the issue had been raised, Supreme Court President Asher D. Grunis was checking into the details.The statement from the court also said that since the alleged victims were minors, it would be illegal to publish the judge’s or the children's names at this time.A spokesman from the Justice Ministry said, “It is true that the attorney-general did not approve, at the time, interrogating under oath the judge being complained about, and requested additional clarifications from the police and from the social services authorities regarding the updated situation of the fabric of the relations in the family.”These clarifications were requested “in order to ensure that the damage from an interrogation would not outweigh the benefit,” he said. “Last weekend the case returned to us with these clarifications, and the issues are being inquired into.”The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel responded with a letter to Grunis and to the head of the courts demanding that the judge be immediately suspended from his post.Nahi Eyal, director-general of the forum, said, “When a man suspected of striking his children sits in the court – the public cannot have even a minimum feeling or faith in the justice system.”
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