Survivors testify: MKs participated in sadistic sexual 'rituals' involving minors
Rescuers alarmed by suspected ritual animal abuse across tri-state parks & beaches
Inside Cults: How Ordinary People Get Pulled In
Survivors testify: MKs participated in sadistic sexual 'rituals' involving minors
‘Doctors, educators, police officers, and past and present members of the Knesset were involved in these abuses,’ survivor says. Jerusalem Post/Israel News
By ELIAV BREUER JUNE 3, 2025 (Warning: The following contains sensitive material, reader discretion is advised.) Several women on Tuesday testified in the Knesset about sexual abuse they suffered as minors as part of religious ritual ceremonies. The testimonies came during a joint meeting of the Knesset’s Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, chaired by MK Pnina Tameno-Shete (National Unity), and the Special Committee on Young Israelis, chaired by MK Naama Lazimi (The Democrats).
The joint meeting was organized in the wake of an investigative report published on April 2 by Israel Hayom journalist Noam Barkan. Yael Ariel, one of the abuse survivors, shared: “I experienced ritual abuse over many years until my late teens and was forced to harm other children. I chose to speak out and make my voice heard. I received threats after revealing my story. From age five to age 20, I was harmed in these ceremonies.”
According to Ariel, she received testimonies from several women who claimed that doctors, educators, police officers, and past and present members of the Knesset were involved in these abuses. “I filed a complaint with the police that was closed after a few months, and I know of other cases that were closed. Speaking out today in the Knesset is a historic moment,” she said.
Another survivor, Yael Shitrit, testified: “You have no idea what ritual abuse is. The human brain cannot comprehend it. You can’t imagine what it means to program a three-year-old girl through rape and sadism so they can do whatever they want without anyone knowing. “Their trafficking of me happened all over the country. They moved me from ceremony to ceremony. Naked men stood in a circle. My therapist, her husband, and her son harmed me, and there were dozens of other girls and boys who harmed me.
“There were ceremonies and rituals meant to make me forget,” Shitrit continued. “The police have known about this for a year, but they don’t have the tools to deal with it.
The people who will fall are very, very senior figures. These people run communities and government agencies. They threaten us. I have children I need to protect. Something needs to be set up that can deal with this. They tried to make us like them – the people who caused us endless pain,” Shitrit said. “Your role is to make this stop in Safed, Jerusalem, Jaljulya, or anywhere else,” she declared.
DR. NAAMA GOLDBERG, head of an NGO called Lo Omdot MeNegged (Hebrew for “Not Standing Idly By”), which assists prostitution survivors, explained that the depictions are sometimes so gruesome that they are hard to believe, but this incredulity serves the abusers, who convince victims not to complain by arguing that they will not be believed.
“Several years ago, I received descriptions of sadistic abuse of children,” Goldberg said. “The accounts sounded absurd. [But] the testimonies kept coming and would not let up. They described gang rape by men, and sometimes by women. The abuse was filmed, and drugs were used. There were ritual practices and symbolism. “I presented the police with written testimonies from five women. To this day, no one has contacted me. Since the report, additional testimonies have surfaced,” Goldberg said....
MKs who attended the meeting were visibly shaken by some of the testimonies, with one calling it a “watershed moment” and another calling the revelations “titanic.” Tameno-Shete said, “Reality shows us that the police are not strong in handling sexual offenses. No one wants to talk about brutal rape and children being raped. There are unimaginable cases of monstrosity here.”
Two other survivors spoke at the meeting on condition of anonymity. One testified that a cousin trafficked her beginning at age 11. “At 14, he took me to sadistic clubs. I endured torture and starvation at the hands of well-known and prominent individuals. I suffered harm in endless ways.
“There were public events, and there were internal ceremonies where I was tied to a tall post with handcuffs. Around me, there were other handcuffed victims with rituals of drinking menstrual blood and the slaughter of cats and other animals. They told me no one would believe me if I spoke out.”
She continued that she filed a complaint with the police five years ago. “The prosecution closed the case due to lack of evidence, so I appealed, and it was accepted. I came to testify while on pregnancy bed rest, but the case was closed again due to lack of evidence. “They said I was imagining things. I presented a recorded testimony from someone who admitted to harming me, but she was never summoned for questioning. Treat this as terrorism.” https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-856407
Rescuers alarmed by suspected ritual animal abuse across tri-state parks & beaches - A Turn to Tara investigation has revealed that signs of suspected ritual animal abuse have been found from Brooklyn to Long Island, including wooded areas, cemeteries and beaches. Tara Rosenblum Jun 2, 2025
WARNING: Some of the images in this story are extremely disturbing.
Wildlife rescuers across the tri-state area are raising alarms after a series of disturbing discoveries in public parks and beaches. A Turn to Tara investigation has revealed that signs of suspected ritual animal abuse have been found from Brooklyn to Long Island to Connecticut, including wooded areas, cemeteries and beaches. Karenlynn Stracher runs Long Island Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting wildlife. She says she’s been busy rescuing animals from increasingly disturbing rituals involving torture.
Sloane Quealy, the president of Zion's Mission Animal Rescue, says she's also spent months responding to sacrifice scenes and the toll is mounting. The majority of their reports trace back to Spring Creek Park in New York City, which is on federal property.
Senior Reporter Tara Rosenblum found that animal sacrifice is protected by the nation and the state's highest courts – yet there is a critical exception in New York state. If law enforcement can prove an animal suffered during a ritual, criminal charges for animal cruelty can be filed....
However, local law enforcement officers have confirmed a troubling rise in incidents reportedly tied to ritualistic animal torture, including 41 cases in Nassau County, 11 in Suffolk County and cases in New Jersey, the Hudson Valley and Connecticut.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola is pushing for a crackdown. "These are fringe groups mutilating and killing animals. They're criminals, nothing more, nothing less. These are heinous acts, and they are not protected under the law," says Ariola. By shining a light on the unsettling scenes, rescuers and lawmakers hope to put an end to future sacrifices before more animals are harmed. https://bronx.news12.com/rescuers-alarmed-by-suspected-ritual-animal-abuse-across-tri-state-parks
Podcast: Inside Cults: How Ordinary People Get Pulled In
Cults don’t always start with Kool-Aid or crime scenes — sometimes, they begin with yoga classes, utopian promises, or someone saying you’re special. In this episode, Gabe Howard sits down with journalist and author Wendy Biddlecombe Agsar, whose book “Cults: A True Crime Collection” explores how seemingly “normal” people fall into manipulative groups.
From love bombing and spiritual seduction to sleep deprivation and isolation, Wendy unpacks the subtle tactics cults use to recruit and retain followers — and why it’s not about being gullible or broken. She shares her own brushes with cult-like communities and explains how even caring interventions can backfire by reinforcing a cult leader’s narrative.
If you’ve ever wondered, “How could anyone fall for that?” — this episode is your answer. Thought-provoking, emotional, and packed with insight, it just might change the way you see cults — and yourself.
“(You may be thinking) I would never hurt another person. I would never believe in aliens. But the way cults work, you’re not really joining a destructive organization. You’re joining a group based on some ideology that is probably a little bit different from the news headlines. . .” ~Wendy Biddlecombe Agsar, Author of Cults: A True Crime Collection...
Wendy Biddlecombe Agsar: ....I think research shows that cult tactics involve getting closer to a person who might be vulnerable. You have terms like love bombing. So approaching someone, making them feel like the most important, telling them they’re special, they’re different. Oh, I can tell you’re different. You know, come join our group. We’re really working towards something great. And someone might say, yeah, you know, I’m lonely. I’m heartbroken. Like, I want to be a part of this group. And another person might not be interested and walk away. So I would say it’s casting a wide net and seeing what sticks, because a cult needs people. Like it’s it’s not going to be a cult without people....
Wendy Biddlecombe Agsar: ....One important tactic is sleep deprivation. So you hear this constantly. Jonestown. Heaven’s gate. More contemporary cults like Nexium, like people working hours and hours a day, being up for almost 24 hours, having to work in cult businesses and repeating that cycle. And it makes it very hard. Sleep deprivation. Maybe there’s drug use. It makes it hard for when that reality shifts and becomes more dysfunctional to realize that it’s happening because someone is so disoriented....
