(JTA) — The Dutch Supreme Court authorized the extradition to Israel of a rabbi wanted there for alleged sex crimes.
The court made its ruling Tuesday on Eliezer Berland, a Breslov Hasid who is suspected of sexually assaulting several of his female followers, including one minor. It is not known when he will be deported.
Berland denies the allegations. He was apprehended in Amsterdam last September during a layover at Schiphol Airport on his way from South Africa to Ukraine. Since fleeing Israel in 2012, he has lived in Morocco, Zimbabwe and Switzerland.
Several dozen devout followers from Israel followed Berland, founder of the Shuvu Bonim seminary, and settled in the Netherlands to be near their spiritual leader. He was free on bail pending his extradition.
Berland opposed his extradition on the grounds that the alleged assaults happened in the West Bank and that Israel does not have jurisdiction there, the French news agency AFP reported.
