Israeli child and father escape ‘cult’ after camp raided by Mossad and Mexican police

Graig Graziosi
·2 min read
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Children of a Jewish community stand on a street in the village of San Juan La Laguna August 24, 2014. A few months after moving from Canada to a remote part of Guatemala to find religious freedom, the group of ultra orthodox Jews have been forced out of their homes in a bitter conflict with hostile villagers. The Lev Tahor community packed its bags on Friday in San Juan la Laguna, west of Guatemala City, to board buses bound for the capital after weeks of friction with sections of the local population. (REUTERS)

Police removed a group of children who were being held by a "dangerous cult" in the jungles of Mexico, allowing for a father and his three-year-old son to escape and return to their home in Israel.

The group, Lev Tahor — meaning "Pure Heart" in Hebrew — has been accused by Israel of engaging in human trafficking, of serious sexual offenses including rape and has earned the nickname of the "Jewish Taliban" for its strict dress code.

Members of the group deny those claims, and say they are targeted based on their beliefs.

Law enforcement officers from Mexico and Israel — including Mossad agents — spent months observing their compound in Chiapas before formally entering on Friday morning.

A federal judge in Israel instructed police to detain several of the group's leaders who were suspected of having abused children and to rescue any members of the sect that wanted to leave.

According to a report by the BBC, the police quickly separated the children from the adults to keep them safe from any potentially violent outbursts from adult members of the group.

A source speaking with the BBC told the outlet that 26 members of the group were found at the compound, which included some Israelis who had dual citizenship in Canada, the US and Guatemala.

Five members were detained for allegedly breaking immigration rules, and two others are still being sought by authorities as they left the compound just days before the raid. Two other men, a Canadian and an Israeli, were arrested.

A three-year-old Israeli boy was also recovered from the compound and both he and his father have been sent back to Israel for further processing.

The source speaking with the BBC said the police who stormed the compound did so "very carefully and without resorting to any violence" due in part to the large number of women and children living on the compound.

Yisrael Amir, the father of the three-year-old boy found at the compound, was living at the compound but reached out to Mossad agents for help. That call kicked off a two-year investigation that culminated in the raid on the compound.

The group reportedly moved from Israel to Guatemala, before a splinter group moved further, crossing into the jungles of Mexico.

The group's Guatemala branch was suspected of kidnapping a pair of children whose mother had previously been a member. She tried to flee to New York with her kids, but the group allegedly grabbed them back. Three weeks later authorities found the kidnapped children in Mexico.

That case resulted in nine members facing charges, including the group's current leader, Nachman Helbrans. Four members were jailed and one was convicted but later freed.