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Lev Tahor

Illustrative: Members of the Lev Tahor Jewish sect attend a protest outside the Alida Espana de Arana special education school where their children were taken by authorities in Guatemala City on January 15, 2025. (Johan ORDONEZ / AFP)
November 24, 2025, 2:15 am
Colombia says 17 minors rescued from Jewish cult Lev Tahor amid abuse allegations
Five of those rescued were subjects of Interpol missing person alerts; leader of extremist sect, dubbed ‘Jewish Taliban,’ in prison for kidnapping child whose mother left the group
By AFP and ToI Staff
Illustrative: Members of the Lev Tahor Jewish community remain outside the Alida Espana de Arana special education school where where rescued children were being housed in Guatemala City on December 22, 2024. (Johan ORDÓÑEZ / AFP)
June 21, 2025, 3:32 pm
El Salvador extradites members of Jewish cult Lev Tahor accused of child sex abuse
Eliezer Rumpler extradited to Israel for allegedly disrobing, beating students, while Jonathan Cardona sent to Guatemala to stand trial for rape, child abuse and human trafficking
By AFP and Luke Tress
Members of Lev Tahor prepare to depart their compound in eastern Sarajevo, on February 3, 2022. (Courtesy/Davorin Sekulic/Klix.ba)
February 27, 2025, 10:05 am
Belize to return Lev Tahor Jewish sect leader, 2 others to Guatemala
Canadian Avraham Dinkel and US citizen Chaim Malka were stopped at border, charged with attempting to help Moshe Yhida Alter, also US citizen, enter country with false document
By Reuters and ToI Staff
Eliezer Rompler, of the Lev Tahor cult, arrives at the Jerusalem District Court for a court hearing on May 26, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
January 15, 2025, 12:26 am
Lev Tahor leader arrested in El Salvador amid major crackdown on cult
El Salvador’s AG says extradition request expected soon for Eliezer Rompler, who is indicted in Israel for child abuse
By ToI Staff and Agencies
Members of the Lev Tahor Jewish cult are seen outside the Alida Espana de Arana special education school where rescued children are being housed in Guatemala City on December 22, 2024. (Johan ORDÓÑEZ / AFP)
January 10, 2025, 1:38 am
Lev Tahor women and children attack police while in Guatemalan custody
Authorities in Guatemala say detained members of extremist Jewish sect repeatedly ‘disturb order,’ as investigators carry out DNA tests on kids to determine parentage
By Luke Tress
Members of the Lev Tahor Jewish cult outside the Alida Espana de Arana special education school in Guatemala City on December 22, 2024. (Johan ORDÓÑEZ / AFP)
December 27, 2024, 1:52 am
Lev Tahor crumbling with leaders in jail, opponents say, as raid deals cult new blow
Amid Guatemalan crackdown, Jewish activists opposed to extremist group say dozens have left in the last year, crediting the prosecution of top members for kidnapping and abuse
By Luke Tress
A member of the Lev Tahor Jewish cult protests as Guatemalan police members surround a minibus transferring rescued children to the Alida Espana de Arana special education school in Guatemala City on December 22, 2024 (Johan ORDÓÑEZ / AFP)
December 23, 2024, 10:16 am
Lev Tahor members bust into Guatemala shelter to recapture kids rescued in raid
Relatives of children from extreme ultra-Orthodox group that’s accused of abuse break into Guatemala City shelter, grabbing kids; authorities manage to recover some minors
By AFP
This handout picture released by the Guatemalan Attorney General of the Nation's Office (PGN) shows members of the PGN taking part in a child rescue operation at a Lev Tahor farm in the municipality of Oratorio, Guatemala, on December 20, 2024. (Guatemalan Attorney General of the Nation's Office / AFP)
December 21, 2024, 12:54 pm
Guatemala takes 160 minors from Lev Tahor cult into protective custody amid abuse claims
40 women also removed from group’s farm; suspected bones of child found; prosecutors say group raided over suspicions of ‘forced pregnancy, mistreatment of minors and rape’
By Agencies
Members of the Lev Tahor sect prepare to depart from La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City on a journey to Iraqi Kurdistan in October 2021. (Courtesy)
August 29, 2024, 6:53 pm
Guatemala probes child abuse claims against extremist Jewish cult Lev Tahor
Members of secretive ultra-Orthodox group prevent officials from entering their compound in Oratorio as investigators look into claims of forced marriages, underage pregnancy
By Agencies
Illustrative -- Lev Tahor women and girls in Canada (Screen grab/YouTube)
July 11, 2024, 6:35 am
Last defendants in Lev Tahor abduction case sentenced to over 10 years in US prison
NY court hands down sentences to three brothers who were convicted for child exploitation and kidnapping on behalf of extremist Jewish cult
By Luke Tress
Members of the extreme ultra-Orthodox Lev Tahor sect assisting a woman as they escape from a detention shelter in Huixtla, Chiapas state, Mexico, on September 29, 2022. (Benjamin Alfaro/AFP)
March 29, 2024, 8:16 am
3 defendants in Lev Tahor cult abduction case convicted in NY of 2018 kidnapping
Brothers Yoil Weingarten, Yakov Weingarten and Shmiel Weingarten, of extremist sect, found guilty for their role in abducting two children from their mother’s home in the Catskills
By Luke Tress
File: A member of the Jewish Lev Tahor cult in Bosnia and Herzegovina in television footage broadcast by the N1 BiH news outlet on January 28, 2022. (Screenshot/ YouTube)
January 6, 2023, 10:22 pm
Conspirator in Lev Tahor kidnapping case sentenced to home imprisonment in New York
Aron Rosner gets 9 months confinement for helping cult kidnap 2 children from their mother’s home in 2018, in case that has imprisoned group’s leadership, scattered members
By Luke Tress
Members of the extreme ultra-Orthodox Lev Tahor sect escaping from a detention shelter in Huixtla, Chiapas state, Mexico, on September 29, 2022. (Benjamin ALFARO/AFP)
October 2, 2022, 10:57 am
Leaders of Lev Tahor cult released from Mexico jail due to ‘lack of evidence’
Lawyer for pair suspected of human trafficking and sex crimes says they were ‘100% acquitted’; source involved in operation says decision a blow to police’s ‘untainted legal work’
By ToI Staff
Members of the extreme ultra-Orthodox Lev Tahor sect assisting a woman as they escape from a detention shelter in Huixtla, Chiapas state, Mexico, on September 29, 2022. (Benjamin Alfaro/AFP)
September 29, 2022, 8:55 pm
Lev Tahor members break out of Mexican shelter, escape in waiting vehicle
Group of around 20 extremist cult members overpower private guards and flee government migrant facility; reportedly enter waiting truck and head toward Guatemalan border
By AP and ToI Staff
Lev Tahor girls walking in Chatham, Ontario, in December 2013. (Screen Capture/YouTube)
September 29, 2022, 1:59 am
Children in Lev Tahor face ‘daily suffering,’ former cult member says after raid
‘The children are abused daily, starved and married at a very young age,’ Yoel Levy recalls; top cop says children also forced to have kids immediately after marriage
By ToI Staff
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