Riots broke out Thursday in the southern city of Netivot as
thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in protest over a court ruling
extending the remand of a local rabbi suspected of aiding the attempted
extortion of a local kabbalist, or mystic, during the recent municipal
elections.
Some of the protesters blocked the main entrance to the
town, while others set car tires on fire, Ynet reported.
Rabbi Yoram Abergel was arrested earlier this week after
police intercepted a phone call between his personal assistant and the
suspected head of an organized crime group, Shalom Dumrani, who was also
apprehended by police.
According to the police, Abergel asked Dumrani to extort
and threaten supporters of Netivot mayoral candidate Eyal Mesika, among them
Rabbi Ya’akov Ifergan, an influential kabbalist, or mystic, also known by his
followers as “the X-ray” for his supposed supernatural insights.
Mesika lost his bid to unseat longtime incumbent mayor
Yehiel Zohar.
On Wednesday, the Lod District Court ordered Abergel placed
under house arrest, but a police appeal convinced the court to extend his
remand in police custody until Sunday.
Abergel’s attorneys denied the allegations against him and
claimed Abergel was not aware of any exchange between Dumrani and Ifergan.
Dumrani, a suspected head of a local criminal organization,
was a staunch supporter of the longtime mayor, Zohar. But Ifergan has refused
to support Zohar due to disagreements with the municipality over building
permits for religious institutions run by Ifergan.
Ifergan is no stranger to the perils of organized crime in
the south. In 2011, he allegedly faced threats from associates of Baruch
Abuchatzeira, known locally as the Baba Baruch.
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