Lev Tahor cult leader arrested in El Salvador, to be extradited to Israel

 

One of the leaders of the extremist Jewish cult Lev Tahor was arrested in El Salvador, as part of a major crackdown by Central American authorities against the group for alleged abuse of children.

El Salvador’s attorney general confirmed in a statement Monday that Rabbi Eliezer Rompler, who was indicted in Israel in 2020 by the Jerusalem District Court for assaulting and abusing children, was being held in custody

Rompler, a top figure in the extremist cult, fled Israel after his indictment and sought refuge in Guatemala, where most of the cult has been living for years.

According to the Walla news site, Rompler tried to flee to El Salvador after Guatemalan authorities began their crack down on Lev Tahor, but was stopped at the border due to an outstanding Interpol warrant for his arrest, apparently issued at Israel’s request.

The statement from the attorney general said Israel was expected to submit a request in the coming days for Rompler’s extradition to face prosecution in Israeli courts.

In December, multiple Central American countries began a major crackdown against Lev Tahor for alleged child sexual abuse, forced marriages and other offenses.

The crackdown began when Guatemalan police raided Lev Tahor’s compound late last month after four minors escaped from the community and alerted authorities to alleged human trafficking. They removed around 160 children and adolescents from the group.

Guatemala’s attorney general said that weeks after the children were taken into custody, authorities were still seeking to identify the children and adolescents who are in state care.

“It is not yet possible to establish who their biological parents are and they do not have identification documents,” the statement said. “DNA tests will be carried out to determine who their parents are and subsequently obtain statements from them.”

Last week, police in El Salvador announced the arrest of Lev Tahor member Jonathan Emmanuel Cardona Castillo for human trafficking, rape and abuse of minors. Castillo had attempted to cross the border from Guatemala into El Salvador near the town of Ahuachapán, where he was apprehended.

Authorities in El Salvador were coordinating his extradition for prosecution in Guatemala, police said.

Interpol, an international police organization, had issued an international alert for Castillo at the end of December. Castillo, 23, is a citizen of Guatemala and El Salvador and speaks Hebrew and Spanish, the Interpol notice said.

The group has gone to extreme lengths to retrieve children taken from the community in the past. Group leader Nachman Helbrans and other members of Lev Tahor’s leadership are in prison in New York for kidnapping two children whose mother left Lev Tahor for the children’s safety. Helbrans’ father, Shlomo, the group’s founder, was also imprisoned for kidnapping in the 1990s.

The group’s opponents have said the children have been “brainwashed” by Lev Tahor’s leadership and would likely need a lengthy recovery to acclimate to mainstream society.

Israeli officials are assisting local authorities in the case. Lev Tahor members are citizens of different countries including Israel, the US and Guatemala.

Lev Tahor’s name translates to “pure heart,” but its moves, machinations, and plans are all murky and in 2017, an Israeli court described the group as a “dangerous cult.”