Top rabbi's son jailed for kidnap

Shlomo Amar denied any involvement in the incident

A son of Israel's Sephardi chief rabbi has been jailed for nearly three years for kidnapping and beating his sister's 17-year-old boyfriend.

A Tel Aviv court sentenced Meir Amar to 32 months in prison and ordered him to pay the unnamed victim 35,000 shekels ($7,600) in compensation.

The judge criticised the rabbi's wife for not reporting the crime to police.

Shlomo Amar himself was not charged after answering police questions about whether he had known of the assault.

Skullcap cut

His son had been accused of kidnapping the youth last year by coercing then 18-year-old sister Ayala to lure him down to his car.

He drove the teenager to a nearby Israeli Arab village, where he was assaulted by three assailants, including Amar.

The youth was told he would not escape with his life, according to the indictment.

The assault shifted to the rabbi's house the following day.

The youth, who was not identified because of his age, reportedly got to know Ayala Amar in an internet chatroom.

The two teenagers subsequently met without a chaperone - something which is taboo in ultra-Orthodox society.

The assailants cut the youth's skullcap in half during the assault, a terrible humiliation for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Israel has two government-appointed chief rabbis - one Sephardic for Jews of Middle Eastern origin and one Ashkenazi for European Jews.