Father Naddaf is subject of year-long police investigation
According to Israeli media, police recommend the case be closed.
By TAMARA ZIEVEUpdated: JULY 3, 2018 04:16Father Gabriel Naddaf(photo credit: FACEBOOK)
Greek-Orthodox Christian priest Father Gabriel Naddaf is the subject of a more than year-long investigation into criminal offenses, police revealed Monday after a judge of the Haifa Magistrate’s Court reduced the gag order on the investigation.Details of his alleged crimes, however, are still under wraps; the identity of those involved, the offenses and any other details of the investigation file will remain under gag order until July 30.The investigation by the police’s National Fraud Investigation Unit Lahav 433 was recently completed, and its findings have been passed on to the State Attorney’s Office which will decide whether or not to indict Naddaf. The investigation probed suspicions of criminal offenses allegedly committed several year ago by Naddaf.According to press reports, the police are recommending that the case be closed, but would not confirm or deny this when questioned by The Jerusalem Post.In 2016, Channel 2 reported that Naddaf faced allegations that he attempted to seek sexual favors from youths he came into contact with.The allegations included claims that Naddaf, together with a Palestinian associate, helped arrange entry visas for Palestinians into Israel for illicit business purposes and sexual favors.Naddaf denied the allegations, saying that “criminal elements in the community” had tried to frame him, gaining access to his Facebook accounts and cellphone to incriminate him by corresponding in his name.Naddaf was one of the honorees selected to light an Independence Day torch in 2016. In 2012, he established the Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum – Christian Empowerment Council to encourage Christian integration into Israeli society and increase Christian enlistment into the IDF.Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.