The Mirror

Rabbi Shmuley Calls All Jews To Defend Alan Dershowitz

Betsy Rothstein Gossip blogger
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Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who is boldly hailed as “the most famous Rabbi in America, is calling on Jews to defend lawyer Alan Dershowitz against accusations that he sexually assaulted an underage girl. He was named in a lawsuit in conjunction with Prince Andrew and one of his former clients, New York money manager Jeffrey Epstein. The woman, Virginia Roberts, is now 30. She was 17 when the alleged sex acts occurred.

Shmuley asks, “Where are the Jewish leaders to rise to Dershowitz’s defense? He deserves our support. He deserves our solidarity. And he deserves our voice. You simply can’t have a situation where an individual spends his life defending his people and when he himself comes under attack he is abandoned.”

Appearing on CNN Monday, Dershowitz, 76 with yellowing teeth, insisted he never met the woman or had sex with her. “Don’t make up stories that have no bases whatsoever in truth,” he said, blasting her. “I never met this woman. I never touched her. I was never massaged by her.”

Dershowitz said he’s seeking charges against the woman for lying and disciplinary charges against her lawyers to have them disbarred.

The end result according to Dershowitz: “She should go to jail. The lawyers should go to jail.”

Dershowitz told The Jerusalem Post that anti-Semites are having “a field day” with him over the allegations. He says their sending him emails saying “see, Jews have always been in charge of the sex trade.”

“Well I’m not surprised that they would jump on these allegations with great glee,” Shmuley told The Mirror. “While no one knows whether these allegations are true or not — and I suspect they are not — he is a man of sterling reputation. …We need to show gratitude and solidarity.”

Asked if he knows him personally, Shmuley said, “Of course, personally. He’s a friend. We see each other at communal events. He’s spoken at our events. … I stand with him and by him.”

Shmuley says the media has been handling the story fairly so far and allowing Dershowitz to make his case. “What we saw recently with the Rolling Stone article was that an entire story fell apart,” he said. “So before anyone believes anything, they have to scrutinize the evidence and see if it holds up. The media should be asking them if Alan Dershowitz is guilty, why isn’t she going to the police? It’s all a little odd.”

In a story that ran in New York Observer Monday, Shmuley reminds the world of Dershowitz’s wholesome reputation and life of communal service. He urges, “You stand up for a man when he is down, especially when not a shred of evidence has been brought against him.”