Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado; Photo credit: Honenu
Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 10:46 Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado filed an NIS 30,000 claim with the Jerusalem Magistrates Court against the GSS, specifically the head of the Jewish Department of the GSS, referred to in the media as “A”, and the Israel Police on behalf of the head of Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai, Rabbi Yossi Elitzur. The suit follows the leak on Channel Kan 11 of recordings of the department head speaking to Commander Avishai Muallem of the Yehuda and Shomron Police and pressuring him to detain Rabbi Elitzur, and to enter his home, without a court order, despite the fact that Muallem reiterated to “A” that according to legal counsel, the rabbi had not committed any crime.
In the statement of claim, Attorney Yado described how Rabbi Elitzur was summoned to the Ariel Police Station under the pretense of clarifying a police matter. When he was in an interrogation room, GSS agents entered and threatened him with the takeover of his yeshiva if he did not stop certain unspecified actions against Arabs:
“On March 18, 2024, the plaintiff arrived at the Ariel Police Station. [Officers] took his fingerprints, a DNA sample, and a mug shot for the ‘police album.’ The plaintiff was then interrogated regarding accusations of various incidents to which he has no connection. He was not presented with any evidence linking him to any illegal act. At the end of the interrogation, the plaintiff asked to leave, but then three GSS agents who had been waiting in the hallway entered the room. One of them was masked, and he served as a sort of security guard by blocking the exit door, preventing the plaintiff from leaving.
“Another GSS agent known as ‘Orel’ then turned toward the plaintiff in a threatening manner. When the plaintiff demanded to either leave or speak to an attorney, he was refused. Orel threatened him, telling him: ‘We usually don’t interfere with educational institutions, but if this [your actions] continues, we will take over,’ and said, ‘You don’t want the yeshiva to be taken over again.’ The plaintiff, for his part, did not respond, but rather told Orel afterward that he was a violent bully and it was a shame that he behaves like this.”
Attorney Yado is of the opinion that the brutal behavior of GSS agents is encouraged by the head of the GSS Jewish Department: “The persecution of Rabbi Elitzur continued for a month, during which time the GSS, both directly and through the police, applied illegal and unceasing pressure on the plaintiff so that he would relinquish his right to refuse to meet with the GSS. When the plaintiff did not submit, he was brought into the police station through a groundless summons for a worthless interrogation during which he was humiliated while his mug shot was taken. He was required to give a DNA sample, and his fingerprints were taken. In the end, he was thuggishly forced to remain in a room with three GSS agents and hear threats to his liberty and to the operation of the yeshiva that he administers. Recently, it was proven that the abusive conduct of the GSS is dictated by the head of the Jewish Department, who is applying pressure to act against the plaintiff despite the determination by the police that the claimant had not committed any crime”