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جوري
02-15-2010, 01:48 AM


Israeli Cult Leader Faces Sex Charges


Updated: 4 hours 40 minutes ago

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Linda Gradstein Contributor




JERUSALEM (Feb. 14) – Some men dream of having a harem. According to police, Goel Ratzon fulfilled this dream.

Ratzon, 60, was indicted Sunday on multiple charges including rape, sodomy, enslavement and sexual abuse within the family. Ratzon, who lived with 21 "wives" and had 49 children was the leader of a cult for many years.

According to the prosecutor, the indictment describes a life "that will rattle the mind, the imagination and question human morality," the prosecutor said. The women lived in several squalid apartments in Tel Aviv and most of them had pictures of Ratzon's face and his name tattooed on their bodies.

Ariel Schalit, AP
Goel Ratzon sits in a Tel Aviv courtroom Sunday. He's charged with enslavement, rape, incest and other sex offenses.

The case has fascinated Israelis who have grown tired of newspaper headlines trumpeting Iran's quest for a nuclear bomb, Hezbollah's threats to attack Israel and the frozen Mideast peace process.

According to the charges laid out in the indictment and published in the Israeli press, Ratzon kept his "wives" and children on a tight leash. There was a long list of rules and stiff penalties for breaking them.

Here are a few examples. (Note: 3.7 Israeli shekels = $1 US)


  • No woman shall marry nor shall any woman attack another, either verbally or physically. Fine: 2,000 shekels, to be paid into the family kitty
  • No woman shall question another about her whereabouts. Fine: 100 shekels
  • No conversation is permitted in rooms other than the living room. It is forbidden to talk nonsense. Fine: 200 shekels


It's hard to understand how Ratzon's harem was able to last so long in Israel, a small country where everyone seems to know almost everyone else. Police said they knew about Ratzon but were unable to indict him until several of the women came forward.

In a documentary shown on Israel TV last year, several of the women said they believed Ratzon was the Messiah. His first name Goel means "redeemer." They said they felt privileged to live with him.

"Im perfect ... I have everything a woman wants," Ratzon declared in the documentary.

Neighbors told the Jerusalem Post they never heard any noise or fighting coming from the apartments. The women had jobs cleaning houses but were not allowed to work for men. They dressed conservatively, with the long skirts favored by the ultra-Orthodox.

Ratzon, who has long white hair and piercing brown eyes, continues to insist he is innocent of all wrongdoing and that the women consented to live with him. He also said he is being threatened but would not say by whom.

Police say he preyed on young vulnerable women, often ones from broken families. In the documentary, he is shown asking one woman if she wants to sleep with him that evening.

"Yes," she says and hugs him.

Media reports say Ratzon has hired a female lawyer.
Filed under: World, Crime


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Froggy
02-15-2010, 01:53 AM
Why did you add "(jewish)" in the title?
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جوري
02-15-2010, 02:00 AM
I felt it necessary ..
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