Shoshana Strook (34), daughter of Israeli Minister of Settlements and National Missions Orit Strook, publicly accused both her parents and one of her brothers of sexually abusing her since childhood. The abuse she described included ritual abuse, the filming of child pornography, and her being trafficked as a teenager. She also stated that her parents physically abused her younger siblings. She filed a formal police complaint in Italy and posted videos publicly detailing the claims.
In a statement, Shoshana said: "After a long period of doubt, extreme emotional states, and a lot of guilt, I wanted to share that I experienced sexual abuse by both of my parents and one of my brothers. I'm currently in Italy and recently filed a report with the police." She described memories surfacing that were becoming overwhelming, including one in which she had struck three of her younger brothers.
In March 2025, Shoshana had initially submitted criminal allegations in private to Israeli police, which prompted authorities to issue a gag order, preventing Israeli media from fully reporting on her claims. In that initial disclosure, she said that someone had access to child sexual abuse videos of her, and that the woman offering to publish those videos was part of a "criminal enterprise." Two weeks after that private disclosure, she began a series of public social media and video testimonies.
In those testimonies, Shoshana described the abuse beginning at age two and a half: "My parents took me to pedophile rituals, in which I've been programmed, trained using drugs, hypnosis, sexual abuse... When I was 13 my father started pimping me out in Tel Aviv, made money off my back. The abuse continued until a much older age... What happened now is that even though I've already published it and told my story, my father keeps hurting me. He came to my apartment and abused me again. He brought another person with him, who he is training to be my next handler after my father dies."
Dr. Anat Gur, head of the Psychotherapy Program for Sexual Trauma Treatment at Bar-Ilan University and the Tel Aviv Rape Crisis Center, supported Shoshana's account, stating that the phenomenon is "probably much more widespread than we imagine" and "exists in many places you wouldn't expect to find it." The investigation was handled by Israel's Lahav 433 Anti-Corruption Unit and remained under a gag order. Women's rights group Bonot Alternativa publicly criticized the police investigation as inadequate.
On March 6, 2026, Shoshana launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised approximately ₪59,166 (around $18,815 USD). She said her story is similar to those of potentially thousands of others in Israel, adding: "Your support helps bring comfort and justice to all survivors." She also directed supporters to an article by Barkam and to an organization called Ritual Abuse for further information. Eight days after launching that campaign, she was found dead at her residence in northern Israel on March 14, 2026. Shortly before her death, she had publicly stated that she was not suicidal and that if she were to die, someone else would be responsible. A close friend, Yael Shitrit, confirmed she had spoken to Shoshana on the day of her death and emphasized that she did not want to die, but feared for her life. Immediately prior to her death, her mother Orit Strook claims to have made a secret trip in an attempt to help her.
The volunteer organization ZAKA was the first to notify authorities of her death. ZAKA transferred her body for an autopsy at the forensic medicine institute and stated that the results "do not indicate suspicions of criminal activity." Notably, ZAKA's co-founder Yehuda Meshi Zahav was previously charged with child sexual abuse and was compared to Jeffrey Epstein by the Times of Israel. Allegations against Meshi-Zahav described him as having built an organization characterized by long-term institutional complicity, a pattern of systemic cover-up, and willful ignorance. The Israeli police subsequently opened a formal investigation into Shoshana's death.
Survivor and activist Yael Ariel paid tribute, calling Shoshana "the Israeli Virginia Giuffre, the bravest sister, who spoke the most painful truth and paid the highest price." Ariel noted that Shoshana held a Master's degree in psychology and had dreamed of helping other victims once she rehabilitated herself. Ariel further stated that Shoshana's testimony matched perfectly with the testimonies of other survivors and her own memories, saying: "We were harmed in the same network, and you were the witness who gave voice to my own story, but with far more courage to speak in detail." Other women who knew Shoshana personally have insisted she did not fabricate her story and have called for a full investigation. Supporters also organized a silent protest at Zion Square in central Jerusalem, holding signs reading "We believe you, Shoshana" and calling for systemic changes to protect vulnerable individuals reporting abuse.
In the aftermath, Prime Minister Netanyahu personally called Orit Strook to convey his condolences, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also publicly expressing support for the family. Reports have also surfaced alleging that search results relating to Shoshana's claims were being removed or suppressed from Google, raising further questions about information control around the case.
These revelations cast new light on the Strook family, which already carried a record of public controversy. In 2011, Shoshana's brother Zvi Strook was convicted of kidnapping and assaulting a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in 2007, receiving an 18-month prison sentence. Orit Strook is a prominent figure in Israel's far-right Religious Zionist party, a staunch supporter of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and has faced sustained criticism for her positions on Palestinian rights. She was notably among those who amplified Prime Minister Netanyahu's claims about Hamas and sexual violence following October 7, 2023, and in February 2024 publicly stated that there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.
What this case illustrates is how ritualistic abuse is carried out within elite circles on young children, deliberately inducing dissociative disorder as an outcome. The goal, in at least some documented instances, is to produce handlers, and other roles to continue their system: individuals whose psychology has been so thoroughly fractured and conditioned from childhood that they carry the abuse network forward into the future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshana\Strook