Man 'enslaved' 17 women

An Israeli man who kept a cult-like harem of women and fathered dozens of children with them has been arrested on suspicion of enslavement, rape and incest, police said yesterday. Police say Goel Ratzon kept 17 women in a state of near-total obedience in at least three apartments in the Tel Aviv area. Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said they bore him 37 children, some of whom were born to his own daughters. Ratzon, a self-described healer about 60 years old, controlled the women's money and sometimes abused them if they dared to challenge his control, police alleged.