Police close 3 Bat Yam brothels in anti-prostitution sweep
While sex work is legal in Israel, pimping, sex trafficking, and running a brothel are punishable under the law
Police shut down three brothels in Bat Yam Wednesday as part of a broader operation targeting the prostitution industry in Israel.
It also arrested four people on suspicion of running prostitution houses — two men and two women, one of whom is a Ukranian tourist.
Police also confiscated tens of thousands of shekels that were found at the scenes, police said.
Authorities have been working in recent months to crack down on the brothel industry in Tel Aviv and its surrounding cities.
While prostitution itself remains legal in Israel, pimping, sex trafficking, and running a brothel are punishable by law.
On Tuesday, Tel Aviv vice units raided four brothels in the city believed to have been exploiting minors. Large sums of money and prostitution solicitation cards were uncovered.
Three women were detained on respective charges of withholding evidence, withholding money, and assaulting police officers. Each was granted conditional release after questioning, according to Hebrew media reports.
Earlier this week, indictments were filed at the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court against two distributors of business cards advertising prostitution services.
For years, the cards have been littering the streets of Tel Aviv, typically featuring a provocative photo of a women along with the phone number and address of the advertising brothel.