Rockland's Horowitz Not Only Rabbi Threatened by Child Molester
By Adrienne Sanders and Lee Higgins
The Rockland rabbi being sued for tweeting about a child molester's whereabouts is not the only child advocate the sex offender has attempted to silence using Israeli courts. Yona Weinberg threatened to sue Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn for defamation in May, spurring the psychologist and anti-abuse activist to immediately remove all mention of the convicted sex offender from his blog. Both are based in Israel. The action comes a year after Weinberg filed a defamation suit against Monsey's Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, a case that is set for trial in November. "This is a classic example of the sex offender as a bully," Eidensohn told the Journal News/lohud.com in an email. "He didn't say to remove particular items that he felt were false or misleading -- he said everything." Meanwhile, Weinberg responded to The Journal News/Lohud story published earlier story this week with declarations that he was not being pursued by law enforcement and that he is being unfairly harassed. Weinberg moved to Israel from Brooklyn as he was being sought on a new assault charge, The Journal News/lohud reported. "I am a regular person ... I went to jail. I came out. There haven't been any complaints since then," he said. In fact, the NYPD confirmed that there is a complaint for assault against a man fitting Weinberg's description and alleged crime -- shoving and elbowing and 11-year-old into a coat rack and hurting his back, as described in records obtained by The Journal News/lohud.
"There are no arrests and the investigation is ongoing," said Sgt. Jessica McRory. The new case Eidensohn, had posted newspaper accounts of Weinberg's 2009 conviction for abusing a 12- and 13-year-old boy, crimes for which he spent roughly a year in a New York jail. And, like Horowitz, he informed readers that Weinberg had moved to the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem and included his address, "information which is vital for the protection of neighborhood children and classmates who might end up going to his home," Eidensohn said, adding that Weinberg claimed "that some of my posts constituted incitement to violence against him and his family." "Eidensohn was violating the privacy of my own children. That's against the law in this country," Weinberg said in an email, noting that a local "money changer" threatened him and his family on the street. Weinberg reported that man to police. Samuel Karliner a lawyer for Weinberg in Brooklyn who helped him comply with sex-offender registry requirements while he was in the United States, said, "An open investigation doesn't mean anything happened. It means someone, somewhere made an allegation against someone." Oren Yaniv, spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney's office said, “In the event (Weinberg) returns to New York, he will be charged.” Weinberg took exception with the statement. "The DA is supposed to tell you that if someone is arrested they would be charged. That's their job. That's what you heard," he said. "They're not allowed to tell you who's going to be arrested. This isn't Communist Russia. They cannot make an arrest." Karliner said he's not aware of any charges against his client, but that, if Weinberg were charged, he would surrender. Legal maneuvers This has been a busy week in Weinberg's ongoing legal pursuits. On Tuesday, he lost his bid in an Israeli court for an order of protection against Horowitz, founding dean of Suffern's Yeshiva Darchei Noam, Horowitz was visiting Jerusalem to teach a child-safety class in Weinberg's neighborhood, Har Nof. The order would have prevented the rabbi from lecturing there because the community center where he was teaching is within a third of a mile of Weinberg's home. Weinberg unsuccessfully argued that Horowitz would incite community violence against him and his family,
The petition for the protection order followed Weinberg's filing a 2015 defamation lawsuit against the rabbi, who put out tweets warning Weinberg's neighbors in Israel of his presence and potential danger as a level 3 sex offender, a status given to those most likely to re-offend. Horowitz contends that many didn't know of Weinberg's conviction because Israel doesn’t have a public sex-offender registry. He vowed to fight the lawsuit, which he sees as part of a larger effort designed to thwart others from exposing sex offenders and warning potential victims of the danger. The Israeli court actions are key to this tactic, he said. The lawsuit remains pending. Weinberg and his lawyer insist he is not a danger. Columbia psychiatrist "Dr. Richard Kreuger has already stated that I am not a pedophile," he said. Karliner confirmed the results. "On those tests, he did not come out as a risk," he said. Kreuger did not return a call requesting comment. Weinberg maintained that he simply wants to be left in peace. "I pay my rent and taxes on time. I bother no one. I would like to move on," he said. Horowitz said his denial makes him more dangerous to children and that he has brought media attention upon himself. Eidensohn agreed, "What he is doing does not seem rational. His lawsuit is generating a large amount of publicity — none of it favorable to him." Reach out To confidentially share information with The Journal News/lohud about childhood abuse, contact: Staff writer Adrienne Sanders at asanders@lohud.com or 914-609-8076 Staff writer Lee Higgins at lhiggins2@lohud.com or 914-609-8025
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