14 jan 2020
The woman says Rabbi Aharon Ramati, arrested by Jerusalem police, had two seminaries, one for his 'favorites' and another for troublemakers; she adds he was brainwashing 'good, intelligent' girls into 'getting into the trunk of a car' if needed
One of the women who escaped a Haredi cult run by a rabbi in Jerusalem says she was groomed by his two female assistance whose job was to recruit the girls for their elderly leader.
Police forces on Monday raided a Jerusalem residential complex where dozens of women and children were living in slave-like conditions, some for up to 10 years, in what is believed to be a cult which operated under the auspices of a women's seminar. The remand of the alleged cult leader, Rabbi Aharon Ramati, 60, was extended by one week.
"I was part of the cult for a really short period of time, I quickly ran away,” said Maya (a pseudonym) in an interview with Ynet. "He has two or three girls [already part of the cult] who would bring women to him and it was the same with me.”
Maya said she was attending another seminary in Jerusalem when she was approached by the rabbi’s assistants. She said they “lured her” to meet with “the great rabbi” at his home.
"I saw the mattresses, I saw that they [the women] were sleeping on top of each other and were showering at the rabbi's house. It surprised me," Maya said.
The woman said once she joined what she believed was rabbi’s seminary, she quickly realized the man’s behavior was “wrong” and she often argued with him. “He warned me if I committed any offense, ‘God would destroy me.’”
The woman said the rabbi ran two seminaries, one in his house and one outside. The more he liked a certain girl, the more likely it was that he would place her in the in-house seminary. Maya, due to her unruly behavior, was put into the “far away” one with the women he admired the least.
Maya said neither she nor the other women at the remote seminary experienced sexual abuse but adds she’s unaware of what was transpiring inside the in-house seminary. “We always wondered what was going on between him and the girls who were near him."
According to the woman there were also no children at the remote seminary even though the in-house one had an entire kindergarten. Police are investigating whether the cult leader was abusing the children, aged 5 to 11, some of whom has already been questioned by a child protection specialist.
She said the last straw that triggered her decision to finally run away was an "unsettling" car ride with the cult leader.
"One day he took me and another girl for a car ride and the whole way he was warning us about men and how we should stay away from them,” she said.
“We asked him 'So why is it okay for us to be with you?' He started arguing with us and scared us, the whole situation was weird and unsettling. There was brainwashing, unequivocally."
Maya said although she managed to escape rather quickly, many “good, intelligent” girls still opted to stay with the rabbi. “He gave them something they didn't have, I can’t put my finger on it,” she added.
"These are simply girls who got carried away by the so-called rabbi and are obeying all his teaching, even the most extreme ones,” she said, adding some of the women would willingly get into the trunk of a car if he’d asked them to.
“My good friend is still there, a girl with a good head on her shoulders and I don't understand why she is still part of it,” she said. “There are girls who have been cut off from their families and I hope that now they will leave and return home.
“This man belongs in prison.”
One of the women who escaped a Haredi cult run by a rabbi in Jerusalem says she was groomed by his two female assistance whose job was to recruit the girls for their elderly leader.
Police forces on Monday raided a Jerusalem residential complex where dozens of women and children were living in slave-like conditions, some for up to 10 years, in what is believed to be a cult which operated under the auspices of a women's seminar. The remand of the alleged cult leader, Rabbi Aharon Ramati, 60, was extended by one week.
"I was part of the cult for a really short period of time, I quickly ran away,” said Maya (a pseudonym) in an interview with Ynet. "He has two or three girls [already part of the cult] who would bring women to him and it was the same with me.”
Maya said she was attending another seminary in Jerusalem when she was approached by the rabbi’s assistants. She said they “lured her” to meet with “the great rabbi” at his home.
"I saw the mattresses, I saw that they [the women] were sleeping on top of each other and were showering at the rabbi's house. It surprised me," Maya said.
The woman said once she joined what she believed was rabbi’s seminary, she quickly realized the man’s behavior was “wrong” and she often argued with him. “He warned me if I committed any offense, ‘God would destroy me.’”
The woman said the rabbi ran two seminaries, one in his house and one outside. The more he liked a certain girl, the more likely it was that he would place her in the in-house seminary. Maya, due to her unruly behavior, was put into the “far away” one with the women he admired the least.
Maya said neither she nor the other women at the remote seminary experienced sexual abuse but adds she’s unaware of what was transpiring inside the in-house seminary. “We always wondered what was going on between him and the girls who were near him."
According to the woman there were also no children at the remote seminary even though the in-house one had an entire kindergarten. Police are investigating whether the cult leader was abusing the children, aged 5 to 11, some of whom has already been questioned by a child protection specialist.
She said the last straw that triggered her decision to finally run away was an "unsettling" car ride with the cult leader.
"One day he took me and another girl for a car ride and the whole way he was warning us about men and how we should stay away from them,” she said.
“We asked him 'So why is it okay for us to be with you?' He started arguing with us and scared us, the whole situation was weird and unsettling. There was brainwashing, unequivocally."
Maya said although she managed to escape rather quickly, many “good, intelligent” girls still opted to stay with the rabbi. “He gave them something they didn't have, I can’t put my finger on it,” she added.
"These are simply girls who got carried away by the so-called rabbi and are obeying all his teaching, even the most extreme ones,” she said, adding some of the women would willingly get into the trunk of a car if he’d asked them to.
“My good friend is still there, a girl with a good head on her shoulders and I don't understand why she is still part of it,” she said. “There are girls who have been cut off from their families and I hope that now they will leave and return home.
“This man belongs in prison.”
13 jan 2020
One of the bedrooms in the raided complex
The investigators believe the women of the alleged Haredi cult were sexually exploited and had their hands burned to learn 'what hell feels like'; the elderly cult leader also apparently abused the children held in the residential complex
Police forces on Monday raided a Jerusalem residential complex where dozens women and children were living in slave-like conditions, some for up to 10 years, in what is believed to be a Haredi cult. The leader of the alleged cult, a rabbi in his 60s, was arrested.
The complex apparently includes three buildings and is located in the capital’s Geula neighborhood.
Eight other women are suspected of cooperating with the rabbi and were also arrested at the location.
Police are also investigating whether the cult leader was abusing the women's children, aged 5 to 11, some of whom were taken for questioning by a child protection specialist. The complex apparently included a kindergarten.
It is suspected that the women were being sexually exploited. In addition, some of the women were allegedly forced to put their hands into a fire in order to learn what “hell feels like.”
Some 50 women are believed to have been part of the cult and at least 20 have already been questioned by the police.
The court extended the remand of the main suspect by one week.
The investigation into the alleged cult was first opened several years ago but was recently renewed after several women who escaped from it came forward with the allegations to the authorities.
Following the women’s testimonies, new evidence has emerged pointing to the existence of an ultra-Orthodox community, which operates under the auspices of a women's seminar.
There, the women lived with their children in crowded residential complexes, with the head of the seminar allegedly systematically abusing them.
It has also emerged the suspect was using various punishment techniques to cower the women and the money the victims would earn at their jobs, was being taken by the cult leader.
Police said that investigators accompanied by members of the State Prosecutor's Office, have over the past two months gathered evidence incriminating the head of the community.
He is suspected of controlling the lives of about 50 women who have been completely isolated from their families and any children they had who are under the age of five.
The investigators believe the women of the alleged Haredi cult were sexually exploited and had their hands burned to learn 'what hell feels like'; the elderly cult leader also apparently abused the children held in the residential complex
Police forces on Monday raided a Jerusalem residential complex where dozens women and children were living in slave-like conditions, some for up to 10 years, in what is believed to be a Haredi cult. The leader of the alleged cult, a rabbi in his 60s, was arrested.
The complex apparently includes three buildings and is located in the capital’s Geula neighborhood.
Eight other women are suspected of cooperating with the rabbi and were also arrested at the location.
Police are also investigating whether the cult leader was abusing the women's children, aged 5 to 11, some of whom were taken for questioning by a child protection specialist. The complex apparently included a kindergarten.
It is suspected that the women were being sexually exploited. In addition, some of the women were allegedly forced to put their hands into a fire in order to learn what “hell feels like.”
Some 50 women are believed to have been part of the cult and at least 20 have already been questioned by the police.
The court extended the remand of the main suspect by one week.
The investigation into the alleged cult was first opened several years ago but was recently renewed after several women who escaped from it came forward with the allegations to the authorities.
Following the women’s testimonies, new evidence has emerged pointing to the existence of an ultra-Orthodox community, which operates under the auspices of a women's seminar.
There, the women lived with their children in crowded residential complexes, with the head of the seminar allegedly systematically abusing them.
It has also emerged the suspect was using various punishment techniques to cower the women and the money the victims would earn at their jobs, was being taken by the cult leader.
Police said that investigators accompanied by members of the State Prosecutor's Office, have over the past two months gathered evidence incriminating the head of the community.
He is suspected of controlling the lives of about 50 women who have been completely isolated from their families and any children they had who are under the age of five.
The Justice Ministry's decision comes a weeks after court 'unanimously' found Malka Leifer, accused of sexually abusing dozes of her former students, fit to stand trial
Israeli officials are seeking to expedite an extradition hearing for a woman facing dozens of sexual-abuse charges in Australia after a psychiatric panel concluded she had lied about suffering from mental illness, the Justice Ministry announced Monday.
The panel's decision last week that found Malka Leifer fit to stand trial marked a major breakthrough in a years-old case that has strained relations between Israel and Australia and antagonized members of Australia's Jewish community.
In its announcement, the Justice Ministry said the psychiatric panel had "unanimously and unequivocally" concluded that Leifer had faked mental illness in order to avoid extradition.
"The prosecution believes that the psychiatric panel's definitive conclusions have removed the obstacles that stood in the way of any significant progress in this case," the ministry said. "The psychiatric panel's findings lead to the inevitable conclusion that over the past five years, the court and the mental health system have fallen victim to a fraud perpetrated by Leifer and her supporters."
Israeli officials are seeking to expedite an extradition hearing for a woman facing dozens of sexual-abuse charges in Australia after a psychiatric panel concluded she had lied about suffering from mental illness, the Justice Ministry announced Monday.
The panel's decision last week that found Malka Leifer fit to stand trial marked a major breakthrough in a years-old case that has strained relations between Israel and Australia and antagonized members of Australia's Jewish community.
In its announcement, the Justice Ministry said the psychiatric panel had "unanimously and unequivocally" concluded that Leifer had faked mental illness in order to avoid extradition.
"The prosecution believes that the psychiatric panel's definitive conclusions have removed the obstacles that stood in the way of any significant progress in this case," the ministry said. "The psychiatric panel's findings lead to the inevitable conclusion that over the past five years, the court and the mental health system have fallen victim to a fraud perpetrated by Leifer and her supporters."
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Leifer faces 74 counts of sexual assault related to accusations brought forward by three sisters who say they were abused while she was a teacher and principal at the ultra-Orthodox religious school they attended in Melbourne.
In 2008, as the allegations surfaced, the Israeli-born Leifer left the school in Australia and returned to Israel.
After Australia filed an extradition request, Leifer was put under house arrest in 2014 and underwent the beginnings of an extradition process. But that ended in 2016 when a mental health evaluation determined she wasn't fit to stand trial.
Leifer was again arrested in early 2018 after police found evidence that she had faked her mental incompetence. The court asked for another psychological review, whose findings were announced last week.
In a statement, Leifer's lawyers accused the government of rushing forward with a decision before the legal process runs its course and said her human rights are being trampled because of "diplomatic considerations."
The repeated delays in the case have strained relations with Australia, one of Israel's closest allies. Leaders of Australia's pro-Israel Jewish community have also expressed frustration.
Those frustrations have been amplified by the alleged involvement in the case of the ultra-Orthodox health minister, Yaacov Litzman. Israeli police have recommended charges of fraud and breach of trust against him for suspicions that he pressure ministry employees to skew Leifer's psychiatric evaluations in her favor. Litzman denies wrongdoing.
Leifer faces 74 counts of sexual assault related to accusations brought forward by three sisters who say they were abused while she was a teacher and principal at the ultra-Orthodox religious school they attended in Melbourne.
In 2008, as the allegations surfaced, the Israeli-born Leifer left the school in Australia and returned to Israel.
After Australia filed an extradition request, Leifer was put under house arrest in 2014 and underwent the beginnings of an extradition process. But that ended in 2016 when a mental health evaluation determined she wasn't fit to stand trial.
Leifer was again arrested in early 2018 after police found evidence that she had faked her mental incompetence. The court asked for another psychological review, whose findings were announced last week.
In a statement, Leifer's lawyers accused the government of rushing forward with a decision before the legal process runs its course and said her human rights are being trampled because of "diplomatic considerations."
The repeated delays in the case have strained relations with Australia, one of Israel's closest allies. Leaders of Australia's pro-Israel Jewish community have also expressed frustration.
Those frustrations have been amplified by the alleged involvement in the case of the ultra-Orthodox health minister, Yaacov Litzman. Israeli police have recommended charges of fraud and breach of trust against him for suspicions that he pressure ministry employees to skew Leifer's psychiatric evaluations in her favor. Litzman denies wrongdoing.
9 jan 2020
Recommendation by panel of experts appointed by Jerusalem District Court set to determine whether Malka Leifer is extradited to stand trial for sexually assaulting female students at Melbourne high school she led; police urge charges against health minister for allegedly assisting her to falsely claim mental instability
A Jerusalem-based former principal of a Melbourne Jewish school has been found fit to stand trial in Australia on pedophilia charges, a court-appointed panel announced Thursday.
Malka Leifer, a mother of eight who ran the Adass Israel school for girls in Melbourne, fled to Israel two days after details were revealed about 74 sexual offenses she allegedly committed against three female students.
Leifer was informed of the complaints, which allowed her to immediately flee Australia. The school was sued for not passing the students' complaints to the authorities; several members of the school board even helped Leifer to buy her ticket to Israel.
Jerusalem District Court ruled in 2016 that Leifer, who has denied the charges, was mentally unfit to face extradition and trial.
She was re-arrested in 2018 after a police investigation raised questions about the true state of her mental health.
In September, the district court said more psychiatric evidence was needed before it could decide whether to approve extradition to Australia, and ordered a new panel of experts to assess Leifer's mental condition and deliver their report released Thursday.
A Jerusalem-based former principal of a Melbourne Jewish school has been found fit to stand trial in Australia on pedophilia charges, a court-appointed panel announced Thursday.
Malka Leifer, a mother of eight who ran the Adass Israel school for girls in Melbourne, fled to Israel two days after details were revealed about 74 sexual offenses she allegedly committed against three female students.
Leifer was informed of the complaints, which allowed her to immediately flee Australia. The school was sued for not passing the students' complaints to the authorities; several members of the school board even helped Leifer to buy her ticket to Israel.
Jerusalem District Court ruled in 2016 that Leifer, who has denied the charges, was mentally unfit to face extradition and trial.
She was re-arrested in 2018 after a police investigation raised questions about the true state of her mental health.
In September, the district court said more psychiatric evidence was needed before it could decide whether to approve extradition to Australia, and ordered a new panel of experts to assess Leifer's mental condition and deliver their report released Thursday.
Yaakov Litzman and Benjamin Netanyahu
The Israel Police has also recommended that Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party be charged with fraud and breach of trust for allegedly pressing ministry employees to produce a false psychiatric report for Leifer, claiming she was unfit to stand trial in order to block her extradition.
Australia’s Jewish communities denounced Litzman’s appointment as health minister and urged him to reconsider.
The Israel Police has also recommended that Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party be charged with fraud and breach of trust for allegedly pressing ministry employees to produce a false psychiatric report for Leifer, claiming she was unfit to stand trial in order to block her extradition.
Australia’s Jewish communities denounced Litzman’s appointment as health minister and urged him to reconsider.
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