The ITIM organization has approached Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and the Defense Ministry's Civil Administration, chief Brigadier General Brigadier General Rasan Alian, with a request to assist an Arab convert to Judaism who is being imprisoned in Ramallah.
D., a Palestinian Authority resident, was jailed after converting in a rabbinical court and becoming a Jew.
He went through the conversion process with the late Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, and managed to complete the conversion process but had not yet received the conversion certificate when he was kidnapped by the Palestinian Authority police. He has been in jail for 15 days and has reportedly been subject to torture.
"A former resident of Hevron who converted at Rabbi Nissim Karelitz's Beit Din in Bnei Brak. It was also reported that he had received violent injures, including the burning of his hands and feet," wrote ITIM director attorney Elad Kaplan.
He added, "Concern for the safety of Jews who are in trouble and captivity is not only a moral duty but also a constitutional duty, enshrined in the provisions of Basic Law: Israel - the nation-state of the Jewish people. When the basic liberty of a Jew is denied due to his Jewishness and his joining the Jewish people, the duty of the State of Israel to act and protect his life, well-being and rights."
"It should be noted that this week Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, who according to the publications conducted the conversion, passed away. Rabbi Karelitz spent much of his life assisting converts and meticulously adhering to the command "And the convert you shall not vex or oppress." There is no doubt that the rabbi's will is to assist every Jew who is in captivity and to prevent injury to the converts of the Jewish people. Please hear the voice of our brother's cry."