Israel’s International Department of the State Prosecutor’s Office submitted an extradition request to El Salvador for Elazer Rompler, one of the leaders of the Lev Tahor cult.

Rompler fled Israel in 2020 after being indicted for severe child abuse while serving as a principal of the Lev Tahor school in Canada.

Rompler, who fled Guatemala after local authorities raided the cult’s complex about two months ago, was arrested in El Salvador as he attempted to enter the country, unaware that an international arrest warrant had been issued against him by Interpol at Israel’s request.

Another Lev Tahor leader, Jonathan Emanuel Cardona Castillo, was also arrested in El Salvador last month after Interpol issued an international arrest warrant against him.

As YWN reported last week, efforts by Rabbanim and askanim alongside authorities in Guatemala to break apart the Lev Tahor cult have produced results in recent weeks and after extensive intervention with local authorities, four families have left the cult, and a six-year-old girl was placed in the custody of her extended family in Israel.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)