The Czech Republic on Thursday extradited two Jewish men of Russian origin to Israel on charges of trafficking women. Two Israeli men suspected of involvement in the affair were also arrested.

The four are suspected of trafficking women, pimping, unlawful imprisonment and battery. At least one of the men is also suspected of rape. Remand hearings for all four suspects will take place at the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court on Thursday afternoon.

The investigation into the affair began in February, after an organization dedicated to fighting woman trafficking discovered that two young women that were being held by the Immigration Police were in fact victims of a trafficking ring.

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The two women had illegally entered Israel via Egypt at the behest of the two Russian suspects. They had subsequently been forced to engage in prostitution in a Haifa brothel run by the two Israeli suspects.

The young women told police that besides being coerced to prostitute themselves they had also been beaten and taken advantage of financially. They said that at least one of the suspects had also raped them.

When police began to investigate the affair, the two Russian suspects fled to the Czech Republic and allegedly continued to traffic Ukrainian women.