Over the past two years, the Israel-Jordan border has become one of the main entry points for trafficking women, who are being lured to work in prostitution. An investigation by Shomrim reveals that the women, most of them from Eastern Europe and South America, receive precise information from recruiters regarding smuggling routes, but are kept in the dark regarding the risks associated with the lengthy and dangerous journey. 

As soon as they arrive in Israel, the promises of high salaries and comfortable living conditions are quickly shattered by a much bleaker reality. Correspondences between women and recruiters on messaging applications and social media platforms, which detail the women’s route to Israel, reveal the sophisticated recruitment methods, setting women on a journey that will often end with them working in prostitution, facing violence and economic hardship.

The promises: A luxury apartment and $60,000 a month salary. ‍Most of the women, often from Ukraine, Russia and neighboring states, are recruited through open channels, on social media platforms and websites. Websites with names such as “Golden VIP” display images of luxurious resorts on the shores of the Red Sea in Eilat, yachts in the Herzliya marina and top-end Tel Aviv nightclubs, all designed to lure the women in. Women are promised, among other things, fanciful earnings of up to $60,000 a month and a room in luxurious Tel Aviv apartments. 

One of the main obstacles that women setting themselves on the journey to Israel will face is actually getting into the country, due to tight border security. Websites often hint at border controls, promising to provide detailed instructions via private messages on how to get through Israeli border control without problems.

“We have a very high success rate – around 80 percent of the women successfully cross the border. Thousands of women flew to Israel to work with us and we know from experience what needs to be done and what to avoid at the airport,” a website boasts in golden letters. Another claims that “we have no problems with the police.”

‍No entry via Ben Gurion Airport: After the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023, entry to Israel via Ben Gurion, the country’s sole international airport, became much harder. In Russian-language Telegram groups popular among prostitutes, many women started to worry and ask for information and advice on how to successfully enter the country. “There’s utter chaos at the airport and it’s far from certain that they will let you in; people have been stuck at the airport for up to two days and forced to sleep there,” one woman wrote. Another added that “the border at the airport is a lottery,” while another said that border control officers seize women’s cellphones and demand detailed explanations for every message, photo, and video to determine the true purpose of their visit to Israel.

How Jordan became the new entry point to Israel: Naama Sabato, a social worker from the You Are Not Alone project, who has been called time and time again by border control authorities over the past several years to help with victims of human trafficking, tells Shomrim about the changing reality at Israel’s borders. In recent months, instead of being called to Ben Gurion Airport, she has found herself making trips to the police station in Jerusalem, where she provides assistance to women who have been smuggled into Israel via Jordan. She describes the trend as worrying, saying that this route is more dangerous for the women than entering Israel through Ben Gurion, exposing them to many dangers along the lengthy journey.

“Ben Gurion Airport is not an isolated or remote space, while entering via the Jordan land crossing usually entails more clandestine routes, which are far more dangerous,” she explains and gives the example of women from the Tigray region of Ethiopia who fell victim to abuse on their way to Israel. “It’s a lot more dangerous than flying directly to Ben Gurion,” she adds. “We only get to see those women who have been identified, so we don’t know how many more there are.”

Sigal Rozen, Public Policy Coordinator for the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, which is also involved in anti-trafficking efforts, highlights the danger of entering Israel via the Jordanian border. Earlier this year, the IDF shot dead a Ugandan national and two Ethiopians who tried to cross the border from Jordan to find work in Israel. “Innocent people, including refugees from the Tigray conflict, were shot dead because the soldiers were scared and did not adhere to firing guidelines,” she says. “Maybe the soldiers called on them to stop in Arabic, but they were refugees and didn’t understand. So, they didn’t stop and the soldiers shot.”

Thus far, Sabato has met with around a dozen women from Brazil, one from the Tigray region and another from South Africa, all of whom were detained while trying to enter Israel via Jordan. In addition, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has fueled the exploitation in Israel of women from both countries. According to a report by ASSAF, the Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel, around 850 Ukrainian women have been forcibly recruited to work in prostitution in Israel since 2022 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Why Jordan? ‍Several factors have driven trafficking gangs to shift their main entry route into Israel from Ben Gurion Airport to Jordan: even though activity at the airport has not come to a halt, it has declined significantly because of the Gaza war – making it harder for foreign women to enter without arousing suspicion. 

Due to increased security concerns, Israel has also tightened inspections and border control officers have detained and deported many visitors from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine – often for dubious reasons. Many Russian speakers who tried to visit their friends in Israel say that they were not granted entry into the country, even though they proved that they had somewhere to stay, had valid visas and return tickets.

The recruiters are well aware of these changes. In private correspondence obtained by Shomrim, one Russian-speaking recruiter provided detailed explanations to a woman who expressed an interest in traveling to Israel: “You can’t just buy a ticket on a whim. Everything has to be meticulously planned. Random flights are not an option.” His warning, followed by the detailed plan he later provided, reflected the operation’s high level of organization and his expertise in every stage of the trafficking process.

“At the moment, the only way in is through Jordan,” the recruiter continued. “You have to be willing to buy plane tickets to Jordan. We’ll pay for you to stay for six days in a hotel in Amman, which costs about $500, and we’ll also pay for food and a bus to Israel. You have to have at least $1,000 on you to cross the border.”

Who runs the trafficking network? Instructions on how to enter Israel are relayed by Russian speakers residing within Israel. Only a few months ago, seven members of the same family were indicted for operating a sophisticated prostitution ring, which recruited Israeli and foreign women and coordinated their activities. 

The pattern, however, stretches back years: in 2017, Dina Dominitz – the director of the National Anti-Trafficking Coordination Unit at the Justice Ministry – warned that criminal gangs in Israel were bringing women from Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Russia and Georgia, posing as tourists, and forcing them to work in prostitution. “The women split their income with the traffickers who put them up in apartments or hotels and they usually go back to their home countries after three months when their tourist visas expire. The traffickers’ treatment of the women has worsened in recent years and the women are subjected to more violence and rape,” Dominitz said at the time.

The regulation that prohibits the consumption of prostitution in Israel (which was extended last month) and imposes fines on clients has done little to counter the exploitation. According to a report that was presented recently to the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, the main failing of the regulation stems from lack of police enforcement. A Shomrim investigation from 2023 found that police in south Tel Aviv were being lenient in their handling of prostitution in order to prevent the activity from spreading to other parts of the city. Following publication of that report, police shut down 11 brothels.

The war in Gaza: ‍Even at the height of the war in Gaza, human traffickers bringing women to Israel to work in prostitution did not halt their operations. 

In Russian-language Telegram channels, women often inquire about the dangers of traveling to a war zone. Many of the responses are unequivocal: “Don’t go! It’s dangerous! You need to watch the news. What’s the point of money when you can be killed at any moment?”

The traffickers, in contrast, try to downplay the risks. One of them, for example, responded to a question on the subject by saying: “I really don’t understand what war you’re talking about. There’s no war within Israel.” 

Sabato says that the very fact that women agree to travel to Israel via Jordan is a clear sign that they are being exploited. “The decision to travel via Jordan is a red flag. These women must be in a very vulnerable situation – or someone is controlling them, organizing the journey for them and paying for all their transportation.”

Instead of tens of thousands of dollars, daily violence: The online groups are also a place for some women to report on the harsh conditions they endured after their dangerous journey to Israel. One woman testified that “they attacked a girl and robbed her. It wasn’t the first time.” On other online forums, women have written about poor living conditions in Bat Yam, a notorious center for Russian-speaking prostitutes and meager pay, which was barely enough to cover living expenses in Israel. Many shared incidents of violence, theft and extortion that they experienced during their time in Israel.