Israel has repeatedly blocked U.S. extradition requests for child sex offenders, according to more than 2,000 internal government case files. The documents, current as of May 2022, show a clear pattern: when American predators flee to Israel, they are more often shielded than sent back to face justice.
The files — which detail extradition attempts involving convicted abusers, rabbis, fugitives, and even world-famous figures like Roman Polanski — reveal how Israel has delayed, obstructed, or outright refused to comply with U.S. demands.
These records were never intended for public view. They surfaced only after a trove of Israeli Ministry of Justice emails, known as the “Anonymous for Justice” leaks and widely attributed to Iranian intelligence, was accidentally exposed in May 2022.
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A Pattern of Obstruction
The most infamous example is Roman Polanski. After pleading guilty in 1978 to sex with a minor, the filmmaker escaped to Europe. When the U.S. asked Israel to extradite him in 2006, authorities stalled. During his 2007 trip to Israel, officials demanded extra paperwork from Los Angeles prosecutors. By the time it arrived, Polanski had quietly left the country — and Israel let him walk.
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Polanski is not alone. In fact, he is one of thousands — that we know about. Here are a few other notable names:
- Rabbi Mordechai Yomtov, convicted in California for abusing children as young as eight, violated his probation and slipped into Israel on a fake passport. A U.S. extradition request logged in 2017 has gone nowhere. He remains free.
- Jimmy Julias Karow, wanted in Oregon for sexually assaulting a nine-year-old, also escaped to Israel. He was later sentenced there for raping two little girls but has never been sent back to face U.S. justice, despite an official request filed in 2021.
- Rabbi Gershon Kranczer, accused of horrific child abuse, fled to Israel in 2010. The U.S. requested his extradition in 2011. Israel dragged its feet for ten years before finally sending him back in 2021. His son and co-abuser, Asher Kranczer, fled alongside him and still enjoys protection in Israel.
- Elad Gaber, an Israeli who blackmailed dozens of underage girls in a global sextortion ring, was requested by the U.S. in 2011. Israel only acted in 2020 — nearly a decade later.
The pattern is undeniable. When the crimes involve children, Israel bends over backward to shield the perpetrators.
A Recent Example: Israel’s Cyber Chief
This culture of protection extends to the highest levels of the Israeli state. Just this summer, Israel’s own cyber intelligence chief, Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, was arrested in Las Vegas during a police sting targeting child predators. According to arrest records, he tried to lure an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old girl to a Cirque du Soleil show for sex.
Alexandrovich was attending the elite Black Hat cybersecurity conference and even met with FBI and NSA officials while in the U.S. After being caught, he was released on a mere $10,000 bond and promptly fled the country.
Days later, U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah blasted Nevada authorities for their failure, saying they “FAILED TO REQUIRE AN ALLEGED CHILD MOLESTER TO SURRENDER HIS PASSPORT, which allowed him to flee our country.”
Now back in Israel, Alexandrovich has been quietly placed on paid leave — not in jail.
A Safe Haven by Design?
These leaks raise a chilling question: is Israel deliberately acting as a sanctuary for child sex offenders?
From rabbis and fugitives to world-famous directors and even its own intelligence elite, the same pattern repeats — extradition is delayed, requests are ignored, predators are shielded. Out of more than 2,000 international legal requests in the leaked spreadsheet, a shocking number involve Americans accused of abusing children.
For decades, the U.S. has asked Israel to hand these men back. Again and again, Israel has said no. The victims are denied justice, while the offenders find safety under the protection of a government that seems more interested in hiding crimes than exposing them.
The “Anonymous for Justice” leak makes one thing clear: when it comes to child predators, Israel’s Ministry of Justice is running interference, not justice.
