Israeli flags fly from the highest spots of the hills surrounding the Cidade Alta favela in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Checkpoints, raised to prevent the entry of police and rival groups, display the Star of David to warn passers-by whose territory they are entering. In a bunker used by drug traffickers, police find ammunition for anti-aircraft machine guns, ballistic vests and a copy of the Torah, the holy book of Judaism.
In the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal groups have taken control of five favelas in Rio’s outskirts, establishing what they call the Israel Complex (Complexo do Israel). Drug traffickers and paramilitaries, historic rivals in the dispute for territorial control, have joined forces to advance their illegal business. The Israel Complex is led by Álvaro Rosa, a drug lord who goes under the nickname Aaron - the biblical brother of Moses - in alliance with former police officers linked to the paramilitary group Crime Bureau (Escritório do Crime), a well-known death squad held responsible for several crimes, including the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco in 2018.
Today, the group exercises control over at least 130,000 people. Residents of the region say they have lost their freedom of movement and of worship. The Israel Complex has destroyed Afro-Brazilian Candomblé temples and expelled the pais and mães de santo, Candomblé priests, from its territory. White clothing, usually associated with practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religions, is now forbidden.
