The Painful Truth Behind the Plea Deal Forced Upon The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

So what is really happening here? Anyone who knows even a few of the details understands that there is no doubt that Rabbi Berland shlit"a is a Tzaddik Yesod Olam and completely innocent of any wrongdoing. As Attorney Ephraim Dimri said—someone who until a month ago knew him only through the media—“The Rav is innocent. If he were not behind bars, we would run the trial and he would be found innocent.”

Anyone who is not biased and not acting from dark motives knows that the Rav shlit"a is trapped in an incitement-and-persecution machine—one of the lowest and most disgraceful campaigns our turbulent society has seen. More than that: the Rav shlit"a has made his position known more than once and said he is prepared to do anything so that his innocence will be proven to all. So why, then, is the Rav agreeing to a plea deal?!

Before we get to the heart of the matter, we need to understand a little about how the secular legal system in Eretz Yisrael operates. Here are a few points we quote from experts familiar with the inner workings of this system: “The vast majority of cases in the courts end in plea bargains. This is because defendants know that if they conduct an evidentiary trial while they are in prison, even if in the end they are acquitted, they may sit in detention for a long period—longer than the sentence that would be imposed on them במסגרת a plea bargain. Because of this reality, the prosecution is almost never required to conduct evidentiary trials, in which it would have to present proof of a person’s guilt. Often, the decision to detain is like a conviction, because the fate of the case is decided when the defendant is detained until the end of proceedings, not on the basis of the evidence against him. Thus, a pre-judicial decision—detention until the end of proceedings, as a routine matter, of a person who has not yet been convicted—empties the judicial process of its essence.” Painful, isn’t it? Wait until you read everything.

The picture that emerges from these words is harsh and heartbreaking. In practice, someone who is arrested—even if he is completely free of any stain of crime—will usually be forced to sit for a very long time in prison, what is called detention until the end of proceedings. It makes no difference at all whether he is innocent or not; in the meantime he sits behind bars. This leads the vast majority of defendants to prefer admitting to certain סעיפים in the indictment and getting out earlier, rather than the alternative: waiting there until both sides present their arguments—the evidentiary stage.

And here are Attorney Dimri’s words: “It is absolutely possible to have the Rav shlit"a declared innocent, but it is impossible to leave him to suffer behind bars—for Hashem decides who is innocent and who is guilty.” And in another interview Attorney Dimri said: “We arranged this deal in order to end the legal whirlwind that is raging around Rabbi Berland shlit"a. Because right now, until the Rav shlit"a’s evidentiary process is completed, it could take between a year and a half to two years—and all that time the Rav would be sitting behind bars. Meaning, even if the Rav is found innocent, we have accomplished nothing; the Rav would have been in prison the entire time. I believe the Rav is innocent, but our Sages taught us that sometimes it is better not to be ‘right,’ but to be wise. The reality right now is that we need to free the Rav as quickly as possible.”

The situation in Israel is absurd: the legal system invested a great deal of money and publicized that it had caught a “big fish,” and suddenly the case is dissolving in their hands. They will not give that up. They cannot allow themselves to appear as those who failed in their duty. Therefore they force a process of prolonged detention until the end of proceedings, and in the meantime they will try at least to reach a plea arrangement—one that will save their honor.

In our case: even though the Rav shlit"a expressed his willingness to continue sitting behind bars until his complete innocence would be proven, in recent times a terrible pressure-cooker has been applied to him—both from internal forces and from external forces. The Rav shlit"a, as is his holy way, does not conduct himself by arguing and insisting. The Rav seeks to reveal the will of Hashem in the world, and therefore he continued with the new course that was directed toward him. The Rav has already hinted a number of times that the secular public has no problem with this; everyone there knows about the corruption that goes on behind the façade of Israel’s “respectable” legal system. A current example is the absurd decision of the State Attorney’s Office regarding the President of the District Court in Nazareth. Against Judge Yitzchak Cohen, indecent and horrific accusations were proven—beyond comparison to those they tried to pin on the Rav shlit"a—yet in this case the prosecution chose to reach a plea arrangement with a laughable punishment of a 2,500-shekel fine and community service. Where is the justice?!

However, the Rav shlit"a hinted that the Sitra Achra, disguised in the clothing of G-d-fearing people, will not stop the conspiracy it is trying with all its strength to weave against him; their war will only grow and intensify. Many terrible things are hidden behind this. What are they? And why is this happening? Do you want answers?!

Look for them in the next issue of “Knishta Chada” — Bulletin 52, which is expected to be released soon.