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Lev Tahor cult survivor rescues son, brings him to Israel amid arrests


Israel Amir, an Israeli survivor of the Lev Tahor haredi (ultra-Orthodox) cult who escaped the sect some three years ago successfully rescued his son from Mexico as local authorities raided and arrested sect members on Tuesday.


The Mexican raid, carried out in a migration control facility in southern Mexico where the Lev Tahor sect was based, saw members of 17 Jewish families belonging to the extremist sect arrested.


Amir's rescue mission, which was first reported by N12, was in the making for a while, with the sect survivor working on a plan to bring his son to Israel ever since he escaped Lev Tahor in Guatemala three years ago.


Lev Tahor: Children & teenagers rescued from a camp in the jungle of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group


Police in Mexico removed a group of children and teenagers from a jungle camp belonging to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group in the country, police have learned.


Agents arrested two members of Lev Tahor on suspicion of involvement in human trafficking and committing serious sex crimes, including rape, Israel’s foreign ministry reported.


One of the 3-year-olds rescued from the camp was put on a flight to Israel.


The group lev tahor (Pure Heart, in Hebrew) Known for its extreme practices and imposing a strict rule on its members.


Mexican authorities raid Lev Tahor cult compound, detain 26 members


Mexican authorities have raided a compound used by the extremist Jewish Lev Tahor cult along the Guatemalan border and rescued a three-year-old boy whose father had escaped the cult years ago, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.


The Friday raid was carried out at the city of Tapachula in southeast Mexico and included dozens of local law enforcement and welfare workers. It was approved following an ongoing investigation by Mexican authorities that found evidence of cult members involved in human trafficking, rape, drug trafficking and other serious offenses.


A private Israeli team that was hired by relatives of some of the cult members stood by, as well as Israeli consul Lior Batzov, who was sent to the site to make sure that cult members were not treated with violence and that children are not separated from their parents, according to the Foreign Ministry.


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