UK Jewish Community Slams Charedi Khat Smugglers: ‘Chilul Hashem And Harms Our Image’

  The Jewish community in Britain is outraged over a growing recent phenomenon where dozens of young charedi men are regularly flying to various countries in Europe—particularly to the UK—some with Israeli passports and others with foreign passports, all working for khat smugglers.

These young charedi men fly from Israel with about 25 to 30 kilograms of khat in their suitcases. They carry little or no other luggage. Upon landing—usually in the UK—they pass through passport control and customs, meet their contact person, hand over the suitcase containing the khat, and receive 7,000 shekels in return.

The Israeli smuggler managing the entire operation from Israel pays for the young man’s flight and one-night hotel stay. As mentioned, he also gives him 7,000 shekels for smuggling the suitcase.

Usually, these young men are not caught and may spend only a few hours on the ground in the destination country. B’Chadrei Chareidim has learned, through conversations with members of the charedi community in London, that the phenomenon has been increasing in recent months, with dozens of young charedi men flying with suitcases full of khat. (Khat is not illegal in Israel when consumed in its natural state).

About ten days ago, two young charedi men were caught by customs in London with suitcases full of khat. Together, they attempted to smuggle 50 kilograms of khat. They were arrested before Shabbat and remained in custody. After Shabbat, they were deported back to Israel.

Members of the Jewish community in London say this is dangerous and causes a major chillul Hashem (desecration of God’s name). “From time to time, young charedi men are arrested with suitcases full of khat, and the punishment can be very severe. Sometimes, they’re lucky and the judge believes them when they claim it was their first time, that they didn’t know it was illegal, and that they thought it was allowed because khat is legal in Israel. But very often, these men end up spending a very long time in European prisons.”

Jewish communities in Britain are warning Israeli charedi youth not to be tempted into smuggling khat abroad: “It’s illegal and causes a massive Chillul Hashem. It also causes tremendous damage to the Jewish community in Britain and in other European countries,” they said.