Israel approves detention without trial in crackdown on Jewish extremists

As of June, the number of individuals held in Israeli jails under administrative detention – a practice that allows the holding of terrorism suspects without charges or trial – included 370 Palestinians and two foreigners, but not a single Israeli Jew, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

Often the attacks followed government actions against Jewish settlements in the West Bank, such as removal of an illegal outpost.

The assault got here exclusively 12 hours after Yishai Schlissel, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, was arrested on suspicion of attacking revelers at a homosexual delight parade in Jerusalem, injuring six individuals, amongst them a 16-year-old woman who died of her wounds Sunday. On Wednesday, a judge ordered that he undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Last Friday, suspected Jewish attackers torched a Palestinian home in the West Bank, killing an 18-month-old boy and seriously injuring his parents and brother.

In the UK, the Board of deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Zionist Federation were among those expressing revulsion at the attack in Duma.

The Israeli army, after much hesitation, succumbed to clear orders from the Israeli High Court and destroyed two homes built illegally (according to Israeli law) on private Palestinian land near Ramallah.

Four assailants, including a member of the Islamic Trust that oversees the Temple Mount, were arrested for taking part in the attack on a Christian visitor.

“But there are people who simply do not accept anyone’s authority…”

Jewish extremists have for years vandalized or set fire to Palestinian property, as well as mosques, churches, the offices of dovish Israeli groups and even military bases.

“Several days ago the global community joined in my condemnation of terrorism directed against Arabs, and I expect that they will similarly join in vis-a-vis terrorism directed against Jews”, Netanyahu said.

First to be arrested was Meir Ettinger, the 23-year-old grandson of the late Meir Kahane, an assassinated ultranationalist rabbi from the United States whose anti-Arab Kach movement was outlawed in Israel.

Ettinger, 23, was arrested “because of his activities in a Jewish extremist organisation”, a Shin Bet spokesman said. None of the three have been directly accused of the firebombing.

Other incidents have been related to limits on settlement building in the West Bank. But one out of five Israelis are completely ignored in your report.

“Many of them are disconnected, drop-outs from the educational system”, said Mally Shechory-Bitton, a criminologist at Ariel University.

In contrast, 3% of respondents said that not only should Jewish attackers be considered terrorists, but they should receive more severe treatment than other terrorists.

“No one is above the law”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Palestinian security officials named the driver as Mohammed Badwan, a Palestinian from Biddu village east of Ramallah, and said Israeli forces later searched his home.

Q. Is this a new phenomenon?

Graffiti at the site of the firebombing indicated the attack was carried out by Jewish extremists in so-called “price tag” violence – a euphemism for nationalist-motivated hate crimes.