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

From Attorney Damari's words, a very troubling picture emerges about the police's conduct concerning Rav Berland shlit"a. The interview is before you.

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

"Hello and blessings, last week Rav Berland began serving his prison sentence following another case. As a prisoner, it is legally permissible in Israel to submit a request to arrest him again under detainee conditions, meaning an investigation is being conducted against him. There is a difference between a prisoner and a detainee; a prisoner has prisoner conditions, open phone calls, and can move outside the cell during the day, whereas a detainee has certain restrictions... to not 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 familiar with the intricacies of the case and the investigation itself. It is likely that someone cooperated with the police and provided versions and names, apparently one of the names given was Rabbi Eliezer Berland, and as a result, he was arrested and questioned."

"It's important to understand: this does not mean that if he was arrested and questioned, it implies involvement, nor does it mean that ultimately an indictment will be filed against him for involvement."

"Let's assume he knew, and I'm not saying he knew about the murder or where the body is, that doesn't automatically link him to the murder itself. And here lies a very big problem for the police, the things I say are also what the police released to the media, they rely on the connection verified with the brother of Shitrit z"l."

"Rav Berland told him: you can say Kaddish for your brother, but the fact that he said you can say Kaddish for your brother does not obligate that it links him to a murder case. It doesn't obligate, it could be that as a rabbi he tells him he can say Kaddish for his brother, or sit shiva."

"Whether he apologized or not, we cannot talk about it right now, I can say this, as someone who knows Rav Berland personally, I believe and am convinced he was not involved in anything related to the murder itself, maybe as a rabbi, maybe I say, he knew about it when people came to consult with him as a rabbi, and for that, there is a religious confidentiality just like an attorney, a rabbi consulted with, but nothing beyond that."

"In my estimation, Rav Berland did not instruct anyone, God forbid, to murder, nor to hide a body."

The interviewer's question: Are you saying his arrest is a kind of police exercise to prompt other suspects to talk?

"Could be!"

"More than that, I'll reveal another secret, here's a scoop on your program, Rav Berland, who was announced in the media as arrested, was actually undergoing medical treatment. He wasn't arrested at all, only a few hours later did the central unit investigators reach him and summon him for questioning, but he wasn't 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 Damari, listen, he was in medical treatment in a place that is currently confidential."

The interviewer's question: So what is the meaning of saying Rav Berland was arrested if he wasn't arrested?

"It could be part of the investigation exercise! Again, for the Israeli police, we would need a whole episode, invite me once to your program, and in a whole episode, I will teach you what police investigation exercises are, and this is probably one of the police's investigation exercises - Rav Berland wasn't arrested, but the police announced he was."

"I believe that with what they have at this moment, it will not mature into an indictment. In my opinion, it's part of the campaign to dismantle and disintegrate the entire organization of Breslov Chassidut, the entire organization of the Shuvu Banim Yeshiva."

"There is one goal - to dismantle everything around, apparently it bothers someone or something specific. I have no idea how all these organizations claim it's a cult, but it's not really a cult - it's not a cult at all, these are chassidim who believe in a certain path, and therefore from here to forming an indictment, I think it's very, very far."

"If you look at the legal history of the State of Israel, very few people have been convicted of willful blindness in the State of Israel. If I'm not mistaken, it was in the case of Yitzhak Rabin, the former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin z"l, where they convicted for willful blindness, but that's one of the rare cases. It's very, very difficult to convict for willful blindness."

"Rav Berland's medical condition is not good, he is an elderly Jew, 84 years old, with very significant underlying health issues that, due to privacy, we will not detail, but he is very ill."