Cult Leader Aharon Ramati's Arrest Extended For 2 Days,103 Testimonies Collected Against Him

Yeshiva World News
January 27, 2020

Two weeks after the arrest of Aharon Ramati, suspected of running a cult, the police investigation is not yet completed and the prosecution is requesting to carry out further investigations, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported. The court acceded to the request and extended his arrest by two days.

“The defendant has already proven that if he is released he will obstruct [legal proceedings],” the police representative said at the hearing. The police suspect that Ramati received information on his impending arrest two weeks ago and hid some of the minors that were at the “seminary” complex.

Since the investigation began, 103 testimonies have been recorded against Ramati.

Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge Elazer Bialin stated: [Ramati’s] crimes are supported by wiretapping carried out by the police. At this stage, much of the investigation is vulnerable to obstruction [of legal proceedings] and therefore his detainment is extended to January 29.”

As YWN previously reported, the case began with reports to the Jerusalem District’s Fraud & Economic Crime Unit about the existence of a closed community operating as a “girls’ school,” at which women live together with their children in cramped and squalid living conditions in a housing complex under the control of a man suspected of abusing the women and children physically, financially and emotionally.

Over the past two months, police investigators, together with the State Prosecutor’s Office, conducted an undercover investigation and gathered evidence against Ramati of maintaining absolute control over about 50 women, coercing them to cut off contact with friends and family and isolating them in the complex. It was also found that Ramati maintained control over the women through various “punishments” and exploited them financially, with women working in various jobs approved by Ramati and then handing over their wages to Ramati.

Aharon Ramati, a name infamous in Jerusalem’s Chareidi circles, has been arrested at least once before under similar allegations when running the Be’er Miriam “seminary” in Sanhedria and other locations. There have been allegations against him for at least a decade for housing teenaged girls in squalid living conditions and maintaining cult-like control over them. There was even a protest against him by Chareidi residents of Sandhedria and nearby neighborhoods about five years ago. Prior police investigations led to Ramati’s arrest and the seminary being closed down in 2013 and 2015.

Unfortunately, Ramati was let out of the jail each time and the police investigations were closed for lack of evidence and Ramati would just open another “seminary” in another location.

Many many years ago, both Hagaon Harav Elyashiv z’tl and Hagaon Harav Ovadia Yosef,z’tl signed statements condemning Ramati as dangerous and forbidding girls from studying under him.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/general/1826414/cult-leader-aharon-ramatis-arrest-extended-for-2-days103-testimonies-collected-against-him.html

CultNEWS101 Articles: 1/21/2020

Events, Recovery,  Aharon Ramati, Israel, Twelve Tribes

Workshops: Former Members, Helping Professionals, and Families

Workshop Day 1 -- Saturday, February 8th -- Recovery Issues After Leaving an Abusive Church. Workshops aimed towards addressing the specific needs of former Jehovah's Witnesses and others recovering from spiritual abuse. A variety of topics will be covered to help former members identify psychological challenges that may arise when they leave the faith.

Workshop Day 2 -- Sunday, February 9th -- Helpers That Abuse. An educational and recovery workshop focused on serving the needs of those who have experienced abusive therapies, large group awareness trainings, and abusive bootcamps.

Workshops are 9:30-5:30 on February 8th and 9th

$50 one-day

$75 two-days includes ICSA Membership

1:45-2:00pm -- Break
2:00-3:15pm -- From Coping to Thriving - A Survivor's Perspective (Gary Alt)
3:15-3:30pm -- Break
3:30-4:45pm -- Relationship Dynamics and Jehovah's Witnesses (Jacqueline Johnson)
4:45-5:30pm -- How Female Former Cult Members Can Reclaim their Relationship with Knowledge and Self-Identity: An Interactive Workshop (Jacqueline Johnson)

Register: https://icsahome.networkforgood.com/events/17800-recovery-workshops-for-survivors-of-cultic-and-high-control-groups

Workshop Day 2 Schedule:
Workshop Day 2 -- Sunday, February 9th -- Helpers That Abuse. An educational and recovery workshop focused on serving the needs of those who have experienced abusive therapies, large group awareness trainings, abusive bootcamps, drug rehabs, and the troubled teen industry.

9:15--Registration
9:45-11:00am -- The History of Mass Therapy With its Roots in Mind Dynamics Institute, Misuse of Zen Insights, and Hyping the Positive Thinking of New Thought Religion. (Joseph Szimhart, Patrick Ryan, and Joseph Kelly)

Lunch Break 11:00-12:30pm
12:30-1:45pm -- Program Title TBA -- Survivor of Straight Incorporated (Sunny Linkfield)
1:45-2:00pm -- Break
2:00-3:15 -- Program Title TBA -- Author of the Dead, Insane, or in Jail Memoir Series (Zach Bonnie)
3:15-3:30 -- Break
3:30-4:45 -- The Legal Case on the Kids of Bergen County (Bill Goldberg)
4:45-5:30 -- How to Choose a Therapist (Bill Goldberg) 

Register: https://icsahome.networkforgood.com/events/17800-recovery-workshops-for-survivors-of-cultic-and-high-control-groups 

Workshop Day 1 Speaker Bios:
Joseph F. Kelly, a graduate of Temple University, has been a thought reform consultant since 1988. He spent 14 years in two different eastern meditation groups. He has lectured extensively on cult-related topics, and is a co-author of Ethical Standards for Thought Reform Consultants, published in ICSA's Cultic Studies Journal. For many years, Mr. Kelly has also co-facilitated ICSA pre-conference workshops for ex-members. Recently, he helped to initiate ICSA's monthly meeting in Philadelphia. . Websites: intervention101.com; cultmediation.com; cultrecovery101.com Email: joekelly411@gmail.com Phone: (267) 679-5493. Pennsylvania

Patrick Ryan is a graduate of Maharishi International University. He has been a cult intervention specialist (exit counseling, mediation, religious conflict resolution, thought reform consulting) since 1984. Mr. Ryan is the co-founder of TM-EX, the organization of ex-members of Transcendental Meditation. He established ICSA's online resource (1995-2013), and has presented 50 programs about hypnosis, inner-experience, trance-induction techniques, communicating with cult members, conversion, cult intervention, exit counseling, intervention assessment, mediation, religious conflict resolution, thought reform consultation, eastern groups, transcendental meditation and workshops for educators, families, former members and mental health professionals at ICSA workshops/conferences.
Mr. Ryan received the AFF Achievement Award (1997) from AFF, the Leo J. Ryan "Distinguished Service Award" (1999) from the Leo J. Ryan Foundation, and a Lifetime Achievement Award (2011) from ICSA. Websites: intervention101.com; cultmediation.com; cultrecovery101.com Email: pryan19147@gmail.com Phone: (215) 467-4939. Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

Lee Marsh is a retired Social Counselor with twenty years experience in private practice, specializing in trauma counseling, DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), sexual abuse, domestic violence, addictions, homelessness and cult/spiritual abuse issues. She was a member of large faith based destructive group for 22 years before leaving in 1985. Lee was the founder of the Centre for Incest Healing in Montreal and former Coordinator of the Compulsive Coping Behavior Program in Winnipeg. Since her retirement, Lee has assisted survivors of cultic groups, moderated discussion forums, and written extensively online to help survivors of various kinds of abuse. She is also the President of Advocates for Awareness of Watchtower Abuses (AAWA) and one of the founders and coaches of Stronger after, a new program to help people who leave cults or high control groups.

Gary Alt was a Jehovah's Witness for just over forty years, finally leaving the religion in early 2016. He served at JW Brooklyn Headquarters in the 1980s, and also served as a congregation elder during the 1980s and 1990s. He is a prolific songwriter, musician, and indie recording artist. Gary has also written two books, Force of Will and Song of Gil, as well as short stories, based on his JW-related experiences. He currently resides in the Poconos of Pennsylvania, USA.

Jacqueline Johnson, DSW, LCSW-R, is a licensed clinical social worker with a certification in forensic social work. She obtained her master's degree in social work from Columbia University and her doctoral degree in social work from the University of Tennessee. Dr. Johnson is a SGA survivor, having spent 43 years in the Jehovah's Witnesses. Dr. Johnson has spent most of her career working in New York State juvenile justice, focusing on trauma-informed care. She is a presenter for the National Organization of Forensic Social Workers. In her private practice, Dr. Johnson focuses on assisting indoctrinated individuals find freedom from cultic and other high-demand groups and process the trauma they experienced while being involved in systems of control or coercive groups and relationships. She manages the Facebook social media page, Outside the Ark, which shares educational information about cult dynamics and coercive control. Her areas of research interest include the epistemology of women and how cultic, coercive, and misogynistic experiences influence the cognitive development of women. Dr. Johnson can be reached at drjacquelinejohnson@outlook.com. You can learn more about Dr. Johnson at her website, www.drjacquelinejohnson.com.

Workshop Day 2 Speaker Bios:
Joseph Szimhart began research into cultic influence in 1980, after ending his two-year devotion to a New Age sect. He began to work professionally as an intervention specialist and exit counselor in 1986 on an international scale. From 1985 through 1992, he was chairman of an interdenominational, cult information organization in New Mexico. Since 1998 he has worked in the crisis department of a psychiatric emergency hospital in Pennsylvania. He continues to assist families with interventions and former members in recovery, including consultations via phone and Internet. He maintains a cult informational website, lectures, consults for the media, and has published articles, book reviews, and papers related to the cult problem. His first novel, Mushroom Satori: The Cult Diary, was released in 2013 through Aperture Press. He produces art in his home studio in Stowe, PA. In 2016 he received an ICSA Lifetime Achievement Award at the Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas. Website: http://jszimhart.com/ Email: jszimhart@gmail.com

Joseph F. Kelly, a graduate of Temple University, has been a thought reform consultant since 1988. He spent 14 years in two different eastern meditation groups. He has lectured extensively on cult-related topics, and is a co-author of Ethical Standards for Thought Reform Consultants, published in ICSA's Cultic Studies Journal. For many years, Mr. Kelly has also co-facilitated ICSA pre-conference workshops for ex-members. Recently, he helped to initiate ICSA's monthly meeting in Philadelphia. . Websites: intervention101.com; cultmediation.com; cultrecovery101.com Email: joekelly411@gmail.com Phone: (267) 679-5493. Pennsylvania

Patrick Ryan is a graduate of Maharishi International University. He has been a cult intervention specialist (exit counseling, mediation, religious conflict resolution, thought reform consulting) since 1984. Mr. Ryan is the co-founder of TM-EX, the organization of ex-members of Transcendental Meditation. He established ICSA's online resource (1995-2013), and has presented 50 programs about hypnosis, inner-experience, trance-induction techniques, communicating with cult members, conversion, cult intervention, exit counseling, intervention assessment, mediation, religious conflict resolution, thought reform consultation, eastern groups, transcendental meditation and workshops for educators, families, former members and mental health professionals at ICSA workshops/conferences. Mr. Ryan received the AFF Achievement Award (1997) from AFF, the Leo J. Ryan "Distinguished Service Award" (1999) from the Leo J. Ryan Foundation, and a Lifetime Achievement Award (2011) from ICSA. Websites: intervention101.com; cultmediation.com; cultrecovery101.com Email: pryan19147@gmail.com Phone: (215) 467-4939. Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

Sunny Linkfield is a survivor of Straight Incorporated. This abusive teen "rehab" center, convinced thousands of parents that normal behavior was a sign of "druggie" behavior. Sunny was an over achiever but became a moody teenager, experimenting with pot, alcohol and a few other drugs. After her parents read an article in Reader's Digest, they dropped her off in a warehouse called Straight Inc. Straight, Inc. was an abusive mind control cult that practiced torture techniques formerly used in Communist China and North Korea on youth. These techniques were ostensibly employed to help Straight's victims overcome the problems and addictions that Straight claimed they had. Spin-offs still exist today. Sunny is now a make-up artist/esthetician and a trainer in retail cosmetics. She was recently interviewed in the new documentary, Fix My Kid, and was also the lead make-up artist for the film. Ms. Linkfield is active with the International Cultic Studies Association. She has been interviewed for NBC Nightly News and has spoken at Columbia University about the troubled teen industry. In April, 2013, Sunny spoke with Congressman Miller's office to modify the bill: Stop Abuse in Residential Treatment Centers for Teens Act. She also organized a seminar in DC on The Abuses in the Troubled Teen Industry. Sunny is active in raising awareness abroad on these abusive teen programs and is fighting for the US to ratify the United Nations Convention for the Rights of a Child. Currently, the US and Somalia are the only two countries who have not ratified the treaty.

Zack Bonnie is the author of the Dead, Insane, or in Jail memoir series, about his experience as a troubled teen incarcerated in the 80s at a cultish, Synanon-influenced facility called Rocky Mountain Academy. With a solid background in the entertainment field, he proposes that art is the antidote to thought reform. His presentation will encompass the mechanics of undue influence and cultic dynamics focusing on coercive institutionalized persuasion. His hope is to reach younger audiences as they enter careers in psychology and other social sciences. He works to create and promote media to illustrate the common dynamics of high-control groups wherever they appear: in the teen-treatment related programs, in religious failure, in strife at home, and as part of the US court system. Part of a larger plea for increased individual awareness, Zack Bonnie's mission is to educate the public - through the arts - about the systems applied in these institutions.

William Goldberg, LCSW, PsyA, is a clinical social worker and psychoanalyst with over forty years' experience working with former cult members. He and his wife, Lorna, co-lead a support group for former cult members, which has been meeting for over forty years. It is the oldest group of its kind in the world. In 2007, Bill retired from the Rockland County, NY Department of Mental Health, where he directed several programs and clinics. He is presently an adjunct professor in the social work and social science departments of Dominican College and he is on the faculty of the Institute for Psychoanalytic Studies. Bill has published numerous articles in books and professional journals, and he is one of the editors of a soon to be published book, sponsored by ICSA, which will focus on clinical work with former cult members. Bill is a frequent speaker at ICSA conferences, and he and Lorna have been the recipients of the Authentic CAN Hall of Fame Award and the Leo J. Ryan Award. In 2010, Bill was the recipient of ICSA's Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also co-editor of ICSA's Cult Recovery: A Clinician's Guide to Working With Former Members and Their Families, which is due to be published in 2017. (201) 894-8515 Website: blgoldberg.com Email:bill@blgoldberg.com New Jersey (Englewood) 

Register: https://icsahome.networkforgood.com/events/17800-recovery-workshops-for-survivors-of-cultic-and-high-control-groups    

Jerusalem Post: Aharon Ramati named as rabbi arrested for alleged enslavement of women

"Aharon Ramati, 60, was named on Tuesday as the rabbi arrested one day earlier after a police raid in Jerusalem found roughly 50 women and children kept in near slavery-conditions in a residential facility, Maariv, the sister publication of The Jerusalem Post, reported.

Ramati will be kept under arrest for a week, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ruled.

Police are investigating the possible abuse of children ranging from five to 11 years old in the sect.

Nine women, including Ramati's wife, were arrested under suspicion of aiding and abetting the alleged abuse. Sexual abuse is also under investigation. Police said more arrests would likely take place."

Israel National News: Jerusalem cult investigation compromised by leaks before arrests began

" ... Ten people were arrested in the raid, including a 60-year-old man who ran the school located on the premises, along with nine female suspects.

Authorities suspect the school, which operated as a separate and tightly knit-community, was in practice a cult which used coercion and abuse to force dozens of women and children to remain there against their will.

The ten suspects arrested in the raid were taken into custody on suspicion of holding victims in slave-like conditions, child abuse, and sexual abuse.

Last night the court ordered the release of three women arrested as part of the investigation. Attorney Dotan Danieli, who represents one of the women, said: 'It was clear at the beginning of the case that the heavy suspicions had no basis. Police conduct has led to serious and unnecessary harm to the young women's privacy.'"

Benton County Enterprise: Warsaw Man Details Life Inside The Twelve Tribes

"A Twelve Tribes community moved to Warsaw in the late 1990s and opened up a Common Ground restaurant on Main Street. In the twenty plus years that they have been settled in the area, they have quietly worked at providing a comfortable and tasty place to eat, and at the same time have been available if anyone wants to know more about their lives or religious beliefs.

As in most cases where a group of people are a little different from the mainstream, there has been some suspicion about the Twelve Tribes members. They wear modest clothing, live in big houses together, and share money, possessions and work. There have been stories told in the past about how they over-disciplined their children, and they have been labeled a cult."

The website (good dot) has "recently reported an example of a 15-year-old girl, Shuah Jones, who chose to leave a community in another part of the country. Her father was a founding member of the Twelve Tribes, so she sneaked out of the house at night and called a brother for help. Her young age allowed her to catch up on education by studying for a GED with the help of family members who lived outside her former community. She eventually went to college and is presently an insurance agent. Jones said that Twelve Tribes bans outside materials and offers only minimal education to children. She said that she had no decision-making skills and didn't know how to protect herself. Jones believes that others who leave a community have difficulty with social interaction that makes it hard to navigate the resources that might be available.

There is apparently a network organized by some people who have left Twelve Tribes to provide support for one another and help current members leave when necessary. The network mainly tries to offer one a place to stay and a job.

In Warsaw, there seems to be a peace between this religious community and its neighbors, but there are still a lot of unknowns. Andrew, who helps run the Warsaw restaurant, now known as the Yellow Deli, talked at length over the weekend about what it means to be in the Twelve Tribes. He also described some of the unfavorable stories being told about the group a rehashing of old news from the past."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

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Jerusalem cult investigation compromised by leaks before arrests began

Rabbi Aharon Ramati's impending arrest was leaked even before operation, interrupting investigative proceedings, allowing Ramati to prepare



Arutz Sheva
Mordechai Sones
Israel National News

January 16, 2020

The police investigation into the compound in Jerusalem suspected of housing a cult was compromised by leaks before arrests commenced, reports Channel 13 News reporter Yossi Eli.

The suspicion is that dozens of women and children were held in the compound against their will. Information about Rabbi Aharon Ramati's impending arrest was leaked even before the operation, leading to serious interruption of investigative proceedings in the case, allowing Ramati to hide some of the minors and warn his people.

Police arrested a relative close to Ramati who was the individual who warned him, but police are currently focused on trying to determine the source of the leak.

Ten people were arrested in the raid, including a 60-year-old man who ran the school located on the premises, along with nine female suspects.

Authorities suspect the school, which operated as a separate and tightly knit-community, was in practice a cult which used coercion and abuse to force dozens of women and children to remain there against their will.

The ten suspects arrested in the raid were taken into custody on suspicion of holding victims in slave-like conditions, child abuse, and sexual abuse.

Last night the court ordered the release of three women arrested as part of the investigation. Attorney Dotan Danieli, who represents one of the women, said: "It was clear at the beginning of the case that the heavy suspicions had no basis. Police conduct has led to serious and unnecessary harm to the young women's privacy."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274643

Aharon Ramati named as rabbi arrested for alleged enslavement of women

"They would put the girls' fingers into the fire to make them understand what hell is."

LEON SVERDLOV
Jerusalem Post
JANUARY 14, 2020

Aharon Ramati, 60, was named on Tuesday as the rabbi arrested one day earlier after a police raid in Jerusalem found roughly 50 women and children kept in near slavery-conditions in a residential facility, Maariv, the sister publication of The Jerusalem Post, reported.

Ramati will be kept under arrest for a week, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled.

Police are investigating the possible abuse of children ranging from five to 11 years old in the sect.

Nine women, including Ramati’s wife, were arrested under suspicion of aiding and abetting the alleged abuse. Sexual abuse is also under investigation. Police said more arrests would likely take place.

According to Channel 12, Ramati was arrested after six of the women allegedly held by him escaped and filed a report with the Israeli Center for Cult Survivors in Ramat Gan.

The girls who were recruited by the sect “were taught to disassociate themselves from their parents, their families and their friends,” the police said.

To reinforce “multiple lessons of modesty,” the girls’ fingers were thrust into a fire “to make them understand what hell is.”

Ramati disputed the allegations, saying “nobody believes this is true.”

He denied holding children in the facility. “Minors in the house? Maybe they are my grandchildren who came over.”

When asked whether they were held as slaves, he said: “Besides it being absurd, it is stupid.” His lawyer Gabi Trunshvili said: “The rabbi claims there had been a dispute between the women in the ‘seminary’ [the alleged sect] and their family members,” according to Ynet.

Ramati was previously arrested following complaints issued by the Israeli Center for Cult Survivors.

Upon his release in 2015, he spoke to Channel 12’s (then Channel 2) Oded Ben-Ami, saying that “the vast majority of the girls go to work in the morning, and in the afternoon they take part in lessons for maybe three hours... When there were girls who did not like it in the house, I was cruel to them and forced them to try again and again and again.”

Asked on Monday how he expected the case to proceed, Ramati answered, “Just like last time. When the police decide this thing is over.”

Witnesses said they “would see girls sleeping on mattresses on the roof in the cold, sometimes in the rain. We tried to call them, but they did not answer.” They said a cover was later placed over the roof “so we would not see what was happening.”

Hagay Hacohen contributed to this report.

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Abuse-of-women-children-reported-in-suspected-Jerusalem-sect-614050

Suspected Ramati cult re-emerges

Beleaguered families of women who follow rabbi Aharon Ramati find their daughters trapped inside a seminary where they live in squalid conditions. Since all participants are adults, the state currently has little power to intervene.
Elisha Ben Kimon
Ynetnews
February 13, 2016

 

Aharon Ramati. Suspected of leading a cult.

In February 2013, late in the evening hours in a secret apartment in Jerusalem, the family members of a young woman from southern Israel found out where she was, after a long period of not seeing her. Not long before, they found out that she was about to get married, so they decided to take action to free their daughter from the clutches of the cult she was sucked into.

The date was chosen carefully, a few days before the wedding. The mother arrived at the entrance of the house while an escape vehicle waited outside, in which several family members waited. The mother went to the door, knocked and heard her daughter’s voice. "Come home, please,” her mother implored in Yiddish. "We love you”. The daughter did not even hesitate. "Get out of here!" she shouted, "I don’t want to see you!”

The operation failed. After a long discussion mediated by lawyers, the family members met the intended groom directly, but did not manage to reason with him and called it quits.

This cult continued to operate until it was shut down by court order due to substandard health conditions, but in the past few weeks more testimonies have come forth that Aharon Ramati, who has in the past been arrested and suspected of heading the cult, has returned to run it from another apartment in Jerusalem.

he parents of the daughters who study at Ramati’s seminary that managed to get inside, described harsh living conditions. “The police and courts do nothing,” a mother whose daughter belongs to the cult, said. Her daughter filed a restraining order against her, after a few dozen visits the mother made to the seminary. “We have been in this struggle for several years and we are still not able to create any changes. We feel helpless.”

They did not open the door

These events are just a small part of a nearly-hopeless struggle by family members of young women who have been drawn into various religious cults. This struggle almost seems impossible when the women are over 18, since responsibility over their actions is no longer in the parents’ hands, and the parents have to prove that the cult indeed brainwashes their daughters.

In Israel, this is twice as hard since there is no law that defines a harmful cult that has to be shut down. As a result, cults can operate in Israel almost without interruption, while authorities can act against them only by catching their leaders on legal technicalities such as sanitation violations, tax evasion and other crimes and other infractions.

One person who joined the fight in helping the families in their struggle against the seminary is MK Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid). She met with parents and appealed to the Ministry of Health to examine the conditions in which the daughters live .

"From the moment I discovered what was going on at the Be’er Miriam (“Miriam’s Well”) seminary headed by Rabbi Aharon Ramati, who attracts many young women, I met many family members and I became aware of the size of the phenomenon," said MK Lavie. "I joined the struggle with the families who have daughters who study there."

"We brought about an investigation and the closure of the place, but unfortunately the activity has recently been started anew in another location. The sad thing is that years ago the senior rabbis - the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Shalom Elyashiv - called it a 'dangerous cult' and stated that 'the daughters of Israel must not study with him or go to his location, his branches, or any place under his instruction,' and called for the immediate closure of the institution. "

Unbearable helplessness

The Ramati affair exploded a year ago, after many parents filed complaints which suggested Ramati was running a cult. All those girls who came to his seminary came to learn with him, lost touch with families, and became more and more extreme. After examining what was going on, it was revealed that the girls live in a neglected apartment under austere and difficult conditions.

After receiving evidence of the cult, the Jerusalem Police raided Ramati’s apartment and seized computers and documents. Health Ministry officials arrived as well, confiscating edibles that were improperly stored. Ramati himself was arrested and spent several days in custody, and then released on house arrest, but not indicted.

Recently, following many reports, MK Lavie turned to the Ministry of Health to check living conditions in the apartment where the girls live, but the Ministry presented a claim highlighting the difficulty of dealing with the matter. "After receiving the request MK's request, the county's sanitation coordinator went to given address, where one of the women opened the and claimed that the place is not an institution or organization but merely somewhere a few girls are living together. Since we do not go into private apartments, we left," the Ministry reported, “If there is evidence that the place is an institution, we will conduct further inspections."

"The helplessness faced by the families is unbearable and the ongoing question of how to intervene without harming the girls remains unanswered, floating in space," says MK Lavie, adding, "I'm working on all possible levels: Legislative, governmental, municipal and non-parliamentary, and I am currently co-authoring a bill together with Orly Levy-Abekasis, a bill that seeks to legally define an abusive cult in a way that will enable direct action against cults."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4764156,00.html