Sex Charges Face Israeli Cult Leader

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.
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.”More