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.
#Audiencia I Este día, la @FGR_SV logra que Eluzur Rumpler, de nacionalidad isarelí, permanezca en detención provisional mientras se realizan los trámites para su extradición.
Se espera que los próximos días las autoridades de Israel presenten una solicitud de extradición para… pic.twitter.com/BTNGWNn6Wf
— Fiscalía General de la República El Salvador (@FGR_SV) January 13, 2025
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.”
Members of the Lev Tahor Jewish cult 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)
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.
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 (Handout / Guatemalan Attorney General of the Nation’s Office / AFP)
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.”
Family members and some of the children who were rescued from the Jewish cult Lev Tahor and taken to a shelter are held by police after they attempted to leave the facility in Guatemala City on December 23, 2024. (JOHAN ORDONEZ / AFP)
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 being held mostly against their will.
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