Belize to return Lev Tahor Jewish sect leader, 2 others to Guatemala

BELIZE CITY, Belize — On Tuesday, Belize said it was sending three men, including a leader of the Jewish sect Lev Tahor, back to Guatemala, after arresting them at the Central American countries’ shared border.

Avraham Dinkel, a Canadian citizen who has acted as spokesman for Lev Tahor, was among the group detained at the Belize-Guatemala border on Monday, according to Belizean authorities.

Founded in 1988, Lev Tahor has faced multiple allegations of kidnapping, child marriage, and physical abuse. The community has moved frequently, often fleeing child welfare agencies.

Belize’s head of immigration, Tanya Santos, told Reuters that Dinkel and Chaim Malka — whom Belizean media identified as a member of Lev Tahor — had aided another member, Moshe Yhida Alter, in attempting to enter the country with a falsified document. The three have been convicted and fined.

Police also released a photo of Alter’s falsified identification.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach the three men or a lawyer representing them, though Lev Tahor has always denied allegations of abuse.

Breaking: Lev Tahor Top leaders Avrohom Dinkel, Chaim Malka, and Moshe Yuda Leib Alter, arrested in Belize, have been extradited to Guatemala. They had dressed up in an attempt to hide their identities. The three will now face justice for their alleged serious crimes and abusive… https://t.co/jkjzwgw7sN pic.twitter.com/OUhIJJuOgl

— Yaakov Flitchkin (@Yaakov_Flitch) February 26, 2025

“Our only crime is being Jewish,” the organization said in a post on X this month.

Belizean officials are coordinating with their Guatemalan counterparts to send the men back, according to police commissioner Chester Williams.

Malka and Alter are US citizens. It was not immediately clear what their legal status in Guatemala was, and Guatemala’s interior ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Wednesday, Guatemala’s police force said it had arrested four “foreigners” who are members of Lev Tahor on suspicion of mistreatment of minors. The force did not name the suspects, but identified two as being from the United States.

Cuatro extranjeros de Lev Tahor acusados del delito de maltrato contra las personas menores de edad

En la 6 avenida "A" y 20 calle, zona 1, fueron detenidos Nissen “N”, de 27 años, y Yoel “N”, de 26 años, ambos originarios de Estados Unidos pic.twitter.com/Z8E63ghfWo

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— PNC de Guatemala (@PNCdeGuatemala) February 26, 2025

Yaakov Flitchkin, an activist who helped a family flee the cult around seven years ago, identified the US citizens as Yoel Goldman and Nisen Shia Yehuda Malka.

In December, Guatemalan authorities rescued 160 children from a compound run by Lev Tahor in southeastern Guatemala, after receiving allegations of child abuse, including rape.

Lev Tahor has come under fire in several Latin American countries in recent years, with one raid in southern Mexico in 2022 coming to a head after around 20 members escaped detention.

Earlier this month, El Salvador received a request from Israel’s government to extradite another Lev Tahor member on charges of abusing two minors.

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.”

The group adheres to an extreme, idiosyncratic interpretation of Judaism and kosher dietary laws that largely shield members from the outside world. The men spend most of their days in prayer and studying specific portions of the Torah, and women and girls are required to dress in black robes that completely cover their bodies.

A group called Lev Tahor Survivors, which opposes the cult’s activities, has estimated the cult’s membership at several hundred people and says it is led by a core cohort, with the rest mostly being held against their wills.