A haredi lawmaker spoke out Tuesday about sexual abuse within the haredi community, calling for greater awareness on the issue, will adding that he believes rapists should be “shot at point blank range”.
Mk Yitzhak Pindrus (United Torah Judaism) joined a Knesset hearing on sexual abuse in the haredi community, lamented the lack of awareness on the phenomenon, as well as places to seek help.
“There are people who are not fully aware about this in our community as well; there are hotlines everywhere, they need to be used more.”
Pindrus also argued that rapists fall under the category of “rodef” – a term in traditional Jewish law for a ‘pursuer’, indicating a person who may be killed without trial when they pose an immediate threat to the lives of others.
“Anyone who sexually assaults someone falls under the category of ‘rodef’,” said Pindrus.
Pindrus qualified his comments, noting that under the current criminal justice system rapists are to be tried by the courts, but added that hypothetically, outside of the current legal system, they should be “shot at point blank range”.
“As far as Halacha [Jewish traditional law] goes, any [sexual] abuser falls under the category of ‘rodef’. If we wouldn’t have a government and laws, we would have to shoot him at point blank range. [But] every city has courts which deal aggressively with the issue.”