State prosecutors and police on Thursday charged 17 Jews with an assortment of
nationalistically motivated crimes as part of a new effort to clamp down on
far-right extremists.
Fifteen activists accused of breaking into a closed
military zone near the Jordanian border this week were charged in the Jerusalem
Magistrate's Court.
The suspects – eight minors and seven adults –
allegedly carried out the acts to protest Jordan’s criticism of Israel’s
decision to temporarily close the wooden Mugrabi Bridge to the Temple Mount
because it is dangerous to use.
RELATED:
PA: Mosque attack is declaration of war
Arson, 'price tag' suspected at J'lem mosque
Analysis: Time to create deterrence
The court said the suspects broke through
an electronic border fence designed to keep civilians away from the miner-igged
area, and barricaded themselves in an abandoned monastery.
The court
released five of the adults to house arrest and banned them from the Jordan
Valley, while two were kept in custody “until further notice.”
All of the
minors were released and barred from entering the Jordan Valley, with one being
placed under house arrest.
Also on Thursday, a 23-yearold activist
arrested that morning for defacing an IDF position in the West Bank was charged
in the Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court.
A 17-year-old girl from the Jewish
neighborhood of Beit Hadassah in Hebron was also charged in the Petah Tikva
Magistrate’s Court with throwing rocks at Palestinian vehicles.
Police
are working on several additional investigations into far-right offenses and
believe additional suspects will be served with indictments soon.
Five
activists who were arrested in the capital on Wednesday were to be kept in
custody until at least Friday so police could continue the investigation, the
Jerusalem Magistrates Court decided on Thursday morning. The five and another
young man were arrested on Wednesday in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood in
connection to spate of “price-tag” attacks around Jerusalem and the West
Bank.
The sixth man was transferred to the Judea and Samaria police
district, where he is wanted in connection with other price-tag
attacks.
On Wednesday, when the police arrested the six men in their
apartment, they were met by dozens of angry religious demonstrators
outside.
Far-right leaders, including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel,
said the police illegally searched the apartment without proper authorization
|