Alright, I have a really tough question. I’ve looked and looked, and I’ve got nothing…
There’s an Israeli guy who’s considered a bit deranged by the name of Meir Baranes. In 1998 or 1999, Baranes physically attacked Safed Chief Rabbi Levy Bistritzky. My understanding, based on unreliable sources, is that he received a 1000 NIS fine and a 3 month suspended sentence. In April 2000, he took his car and ran over Rabbi Bistrizky. He received a one year sentence.
How did he get off with these crazy-sounding lenient sentences? I know this is a complex question, so if you don’t know, maybe you have an idea of who I could ask?
ps I just realized I accidentally posted in Great Debates, I meant this for General Questions.
There’s the Lubivicher conspiracy theory, which is that Baranes is a Shin Bet plant intended to make them look bad. I don’t think that’s true, although it beats my theory that the Israeli judiciary just didn’t like Rabbi Bistritzky. (“You tried to kill him? Eh, we’ll let you off with a warning.”)
My personal theory is that Baranes isn’t all there, and everybody knows that (in addition to his vendetta against Bistritzky, he tried to curse the Pope, he’s convinced, not only that Schneerson is the messiah, but that Schneerson is God, or higher than God, and he’s done a bunch of other stuff too), and that they feel bad about sentencing somebody so obviously deranged to a long prison term.
So then commit him to a locked psychiatric facility. Didn’t we have someone who attempted to assassinate the US President who was found too crazy to try in Court, but was instead committed for mental treatment?
On the other hand he was arrested for putting a “kabbalistic death curse” on the pope, which seems a little draconian.
This article kinda makes it sound like his mental condition might be due to injuries sustained while serving the Israeli armed forces, though they don’t quite say so explicitly. Perhaps the jury/judge/whatever they have in Israel just felt bad for him and let him off lightly?
I could be wrong, but its my understanding that Israeli judges are reluctant to involuntarily commit criminal defendants, and that there are some Supreme Court decisions that make it difficult to do so.
Part of it may also be that, as I understand it, Israeli criminal sentences are just lighter in general than their American counterparts. These particular sentences are probably still on the lenient side - but less so than they might look.
The same curse - the *Pulsa Denura *- was cast by a group of extremist rabbis on Yitzhak Rabin in 1995; his assassin cited it as the direct inspiration and dispensation for his acts. The Israeli authorities can be forgiven for taking it seriously.