Casablanca- Earlier this year, founder of the Shuvu Bonim religious seminary in Israel, Eliezer Berland, 76, had fled to Morocco after being incriminated of sexually abusing two women.
The Chasidic rabbi was not the only “runway” to seek shelter in Morocco, a thing that has aroused the anxiety of the Jewish community in Morocco.
Before his residency permit in Morocco expired, Berland had lured several followers to him especially on his grandson’s wedding.
According to news outlet Haaretz, Berland was forced to leave the kingdom mainly by the Jewish community there, as his presence, along with that of other Israeli fugitives, was deemed as jeopardy to Muslim-Jewish relations in Morocco.
“Berland was the last straw; he really had to go,” Sam Ben Chetrit, president of the World Federation of Moroccan Jewry, was quoted as saying by Haaretz.
According to the same source, several Israelis residing permanently or temporarily in Morocco have mafia ties.
Meir Abergil, Moshe Elgrably; and Shalom Domran are all names of Israeli fugitives the Harretz cites to demonstrate how the kingdom has become “a go-to-place” for Israeli outlaws escaping the grip of law in Israel.
Strikingly shocking, these Israeli criminals easily earn the permission to reside in Morocco after a few manipulations at the level of administrative documentation.
Moreover, some Moroccan Jews seem to support some of these Israeli fugitives. Jacky Kadoch, president of the Marrakech Jewish community, had showed support for Berland and disapproved of all allegations against him.
Yet, other Moroccan Jews see in the presence of such fugitives a threat to the Muslim-Jewish relationships as well as jeopardy to the Jewish community’s reputation in Morocco, which is inescapably tainted by the criminal profiles of Israeli fugitives who flee to the kingdom.
© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed