Police raided several locations in Yavne’el on Thursday morning and detained 16 suspects for questioning — minors and adults — on suspicion that they had recently married or had begun making concrete preparations for an illegal wedding ceremony involving underage brides.
“The Northern District Police is conducting an ongoing campaign against the phenomenon of child marriages allegedly taking place illegally within a small and closed community whose main activity is centered in the town of Yavne’el in the Lower Galilee. After more than 20 suspects were detained for questioning several weeks ago on suspicion of involvement in child marriages in the community, dozens of Northern District officers again raided several locations in Yavne’el this morning and have so far detained 16 minors and adults for questioning,” the Israel Police said in a statement.
This is the second wave of detentions, after more than 20 suspects were questioned in June over alleged involvement in child marriages in the community.
According to police, the weddings are usually held in the morning with only a small number of people present, and the location is not disclosed until the ceremony begins. They are held without photographs or cellphones, out of concern that the wedding will be documented.
“After the religious ceremony, in many cases another event is held for the wider public under the guise of an ‘engagement party,’ to which all relatives of the bride and groom are invited,” police said.
Confiscated duringt he raid
(Photo: Israel Police spokesperson)
In recent months, the child marriage affair in the town has drawn public attention, in part following ynet reports about underage girls from the local Hasidic community who arrived to give birth at nearby hospitals.
Police explained that enforcement is complicated because the wedding ceremonies are generally held in secret. Even when police discover a festive gathering, participants do not issue invitations using the word “wedding,” do not sign a ketubah, or Jewish marriage contract, and do not hold a chuppah ceremony in front of guests, so that there will be no evidence that a wedding took place.
Israel Police raid minor wedding in Yavne'el earlier this year
(Photo: Israel Police spokesperson)
“Kudos to the Northern District fraud unit, which is conducting this complicated investigation. We will not relent until all the offenders who abuse underage girls and boys are behind bars, ”Knesset lawmaker Meirav Cohen of Beyachad-Yesh Atid, chair of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, said.
Cohen visited the community Wednesday after, according to her, a school principal married off her daughter while she was still a minor to a young man from the community. During the visit, Cohen entered a local council meeting, where her personal aide said he was shoved and nearly assaulted by one of the employees there.