On Tuesday, an Israeli court sentenced a Jewish cult leader to a 30-year prison sentence for having 21 wives and claiming to be the “saviour”.
Israel Army Radio reported that: “The Israeli court in Tel Aviv sentenced the leader of a Jewish cult (which consisted of solely women minus the one male convicted), Goel Ratzon, to 30 years in prison for having 21 wives. He has also been charged with enslavement and robbing the women of free will.”
With regards to the case, Israel Army Radio also noted that Ratzon, who is 65 years old, violated young girls for 30 years, and then took them as “wives”, keeping them in appalling conditions.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that Ratzon kept his wives in four homes and imposed a special lifestyle on them based on his own rules, which included preventing them from eating meat, smoking and drinking.
Israel Army Radio also quoted one of Ratzon’s wives saying that her husband described himself as “the saviour of the world”.
Ratzon denied the charges, stating that the women lived with him voluntarily.
Ratzon’s story has become one of the most talked about stories in Israeli media, especially since religious marriage in Israel is monogamous.
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