Israeli Rabbi Charged With Sex Abuse
Modern Orthodox leader Rabbi Mordechai “Motti” Elon was indicted for the sexual assault of a minor.
The Jerusalem prosecutors’ office filed the indictment Wednesday with the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.
The alleged assault took place in 2005 against a student who had come to Elon for advice, according to the indictment. Another offense reportedly took place in 2003.
Elon has denied the charges, saying that his actions were misunderstood. He reportedly turned down a plea bargain offered by prosecutors.
Accusations of sexual misconduct against Elon were first investigated by a Modern Orthodox forum that deals with complaints of sexual harassment in the religious school system. The forum in 2006 ordered that Elon no longer have contact with students. Shortly after, Elon left his teaching positions and moved from Jerusalem to the northern moshav Migdal, citing health reasons.
The rabbi is the brother of former Knesset member Benny Elon and the son of former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon. The former rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem, Elon is the founder of the MiBereshit educational program, which is distributed throughout the world in Hebrew and English.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO