A young yeshiva dean is on trial for not divulging the names of his students who scared off a group of Arab infiltrators. Rabbi Mordechai Ganiram, head of the Har Shalom hesder yeshiva in the Mount Hevron-area, explained to Arutz-7’s Hebrew newsmagazine that if he would have maintained the right to remain silent, “I would not have been put on trial at all.” The incident in question took place a year and a half ago. On March 30, 2008, a gang of Arab shepherds infiltrated the Jewish town of Eshtamoa, and began making their way to the yeshiva. Three students went out to the scene, and chased away the Arabs – who later filed a complaint that they had been attacked. Rabbi Ganiram was summoned to the police for questioning. He decided not to remain silent, which he could have done, but rather to tell the police what happened. The rabbi explained that the students did not attack the Arabs, but rather scared them off with yells. When asked to provide the names of the students, the rabbi refused – and he is now on trial for obstructing a police investigation. Rabbi Ganiram is known for helping rehabilitate youth who have minor police records, including helping them to enlist in the army. He says that his trial is like a “stab in the back” and will have a negative effect on his efforts. “In our yeshiva,” Rabbi Ganiram said, “we make sure to educate the students to cooperate with law enforcement authorities – despite the way in which the State has treated the nationalist camp in recent years. By indicting me, the authorities have put a stick in the spokes of the students’ education and are making our work more difficult.” “I cooperated with the police, and received an indictment in return,” the rabbi said. “If I would have just remained silent, I would have been spared this entire thing.” He added that many lawyers and jurists with whom he spoke were very surprised by the indictment and its purpose. Rabbi Ganiram said that he does not wish to divulge his students’ names, “because they are innocent - and I know that if I would give their names, they would be put on trial anyway, messing them up and harming their good names for a very long time.”
