It’s Time For Israel To Throw The Book At Haredi “Chastity Squads”

It’s a darn shame that Israel doesn’t have legislation similar to the U.S. RICO laws.  Maybe then Haredi gangsters wouldn’t receive two lousy years in prison after repeated and coordinated attacks on innocent people.  From yesterday’s Ynet:

A member of Jerusalem’s so-called “Chastity Squad” who attacked a store owner and drove away his customers – is going to jail, The Jerusalem District Court decided Tuesday. Judge Nava Ben-Or sentenced Shmuel Weisfish, 24, to two years in prison following his conviction for several charges of violence against the owner of an electronics store in the ultra-religious Geula neighborhood in Jerusalem.

These crimes are the result of a well-synchronized conspiracy to commit extortion, assault and arson.

According to the indictment, Weisfish took part in “Chastity Squad” protests that were regularly held outside the computer store, which the members accused of selling “non-kosher” MP4 players. According to the “Chastity Squad”, the gadgets expose users to inappropriate content.

During these demonstrations, which began in June 2008, Weisfish would drive customers out of the store, damage merchandise and threaten to murder the employees and burn the store down.

…At a certain point, Weisfish and another man dragged the store manager out of the store, where they beat him,” the indictment read.

And for this he gets two years in a Haredi prison unit?  How does this deter these hoodlums?  Meanwhile these Haredi “Cosa Nostra” groups are branching out, completely unperturbed by the delicate treatment they receive in the courts.

I suggest that Israeli legislators and prosecutors might want to brush up on how U.S. RICO statutes, originally passed to address traditional organized crime, have been successfully employed against violent anti-abortion “activists” and bishops who protect pedophile priests.