The struggle to rescue children from Lev Tahor cult in Guatemala: ’12-year-old girls being married off against their will’

Published May 14, 2025 By admin with Comments 0

In an emotional Knesset hearing, families and officials urged swift action to rescue children from Guatemala’s Lev Tahor cult: ‘They face imprisonment, starvation and rape—time is against them’; A 1.5 million shekel aid package was allocated to support rescue efforts

Esther, an Israeli grandmother who recently managed to rescue her 5-year-old granddaughter from the cult, tearfully described the horrors the girl had endured. “When she began communicating with me, I burst into tears in front of her,” Esther said. “I can’t believe this world exists while a 5-year-old goes through such suffering. Girls in the cult are enslaved and subjected to unimaginable torment.”Esther urged Israeli authorities to compile and submit risk assessments on cult members to Guatemalan authorities. “There are 12-year-old girls being married off against their will. Time is working against the children. We must act fast,” she pleaded. “Getting one child out is not enough. We need to rescue them all.”She recounted being harassed by cult members and said the only evidence Guatemalan authorities acted on was a formal danger assessment. “When a girl says, ‘My sister is turning 12, so she’ll be a bride soon’—that’s not something you can ignore,” she added.Orit Cohen Amir, a representative of the families, sharply criticized state officials: “You’re brushing us off—just like you’ve been doing for 15 years. Not one child returned because of your actions. You keep telling us it’s classified, that it’s complicated, but nothing gets done. The children are suffering while you stall.”Cohen Amir accused officials of lacking the ability to issue arrest warrants in Guatemala. “We’re talking about starvation, solitary confinement, even rape,” she said. “You have the power, but you’re wasting time and talking nonsense.”Ben Zion Marcus, another family member, voiced concerns that cult families may flee Guatemala to evade justice. “We must bring these abused children back to Israel and give them the rehabilitation they need,” he said.

Content retrieved from: https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rjemdxzblg.