An appeal to the Government to halt any further prosecution in the Yoselle Schumacher case was made today in Israel’s Parliament by Dr. Zorach Warhaftig, Minister for Religious Affairs.
He argued that the affair should be considered closed with the finding of the long-missing boy in New York and his re-union with his parents in Israel last week. He made his statement in the course of debate on his Ministry’s budget in which the abduction and hiding of the boy for more than two years and the status of Bene Israel Jews in Israel were raised.
He said it was to Israel’s credit that it had taken a “tolerant attitude” toward extremist religious groups and that once such a group acted against the state, it was time for the police to step in. He added that now that the boy was back with his parents it would be “a great act” if the case were closed.
Police meanwhile began questioning Rabbi Aaron Katzenellenbogen, head of the Torah Veyirah Yeshiva, in connection with various aspects of the Yoselle case.
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