Wednesday 28 September 2022 05:14 PM Members of Lev Tahor sect raided in Mexico may have planned to flee to Iran trends now
An extremist Jewish sect living in southern Mexico may have been forming plans to flee to Iran before their compound was raided last week.
The Lev Tahor compound near Tapachula, in far southern Mexico, was raided early on Friday by Mexican federal police cooperating with a team of advisors from Israel, including former Mossad agents.
Two sect leaders -- identified as Menachem Mendel Alter and Moshe Joseph Rosner -- were arrested on charges of human trafficking, and roughly 19 women and children from the group are being held at a migrant facility in Huixtla.
One three-year-old boy held by the group was reunited with his father Yisrael Amir, a former Lev Tahor member who has been trying to gain custody since disavowing the sect several years ago.
Lev Tahor, dubbed a 'dangerous cult' by Israeli courts, has faced allegations of kidnapping and sexual abuse, and its strict rules mandating head-to-toe coverings for women led the Israeli press to dub the group the 'Jewish Taliban'.
Officials in Mexico and Israel pushed forward with the raid amid fears that the group planned to relocate to Iran, a move that would put them out of reach of former members such as Amir who hoped to rescue family members.
Leaders of the anti-Zionist sect previously sought asylum in Iran for the entire group, and swore an oath of allegiance to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to US federal court filings in a 2019 criminal case.
Lev Tahor members gather outside a migrant facility in Huixtla, Mexico on Tuesday to demand the release of 19 women and children being held there following a raid on the group
A Lev Tahor member argues with a Mexican National Guardsman at the migrant facility. The extremist sect is believed to have been planning a move to Iran
Lev Tahor members protest in Huixtla after an operation by Mexican federal police to arrest leaders of the extremist sect and detain woman and children from the group
Lev Tahor leaders previously sought asylum in Iran for the entire group, and swore an oath of allegiance to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (seen last week)
Last November, about 70 members of the Lev Tahor sect who had been living in Guatemala were detained while trying to cross into Iran from northern Iraq. Iraqi officials deported the group to Turkey.
Israeli family members of the sect members were deeply concerned by the group's apparent plans to move to Iran, fearing that they would be used as hostages against Israel or even publicly executed, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The group's plans and movements are murky, however, and since its founding in the 1980s the sect has relocated repeatedly over the years, moving between Israel, the US, Canada, Guatemala and Mexico to avoid investigations into alleged child abuse.
The Lev Tahor group raided last week in Tapachula, which is in Mexico's Chiapas state in far southern Mexico, has lived there since leaving Guatemala in 2014 following friction with locals and tourists.
Israel's foreign ministry said that 26 people were found in the compound on Friday, and that two of them, a Canadian and an Israeli citizen, were arrested on charges of human trafficking and sex offenses including rape.
Five more were detained for allegedly breaking immigration rules, and the remaining members, including women children, are being housed by the Mexican Ministry of Welfare, Israel said.
Lev Tahor members protest outside the INM office in Huixtla, Chiapas state, Mexico
Israel's foreign ministry said that 26 people were found in the compound on Friday, and that two of them, a Canadian and an Israeli citizen, were arrested on charges of human trafficking
The Lev Tahor group raided last week in Tapachula, which is in Mexico's Chiapas state in far southern Mexico, has lived there since leaving Guatemala in 2014
The women and children being held by the Mexican government hold Israeli passports, but have so far refused to return to Israel, officials said
The women and children being held by the Mexican government hold Israeli passports, but have so far refused to return to Israel, according to the Times of Israel.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said it believed Mexico would agree to deport the group to Israel, but stressed that it continued to seek their willing return.
Mexican officials have not confirmed the exact number of women and children being held at a National Institute of
