Jerusalem District Court Judge Yoram Noam on Thursday rejected an appeal to extend the remand in custody of Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira even though the state said it suspected him of direct involvement in the arson attack on a mosque in the West Bank . Although the state dramatically ratcheted up the gravity of the suspicions against Shapira, the result was the same as it had been the previous day in Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court. In that hearing, Judge Anat Singer turned down the state’s request to extend Shapira’s remand by five days because he refused to answer questions by police interrogators and because he could obstruct justice. Singer said that neither of the reasons given by the police applied in Shapira’s case. Shapira is the head of Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the Jewish settlement of Yitzhar. Three of his students are suspected of setting fire to the mosque. On Thursday the state raised the ante, saying that it wanted to keep Shapira in jail for questioning because it suspected that he himself was implicated in the arson attempt. The state prosecutor told the court there was reason to suspect that Shapira “was involved either in the planning or execution or by helping [the perpetrators] escape after the act.” He said it was possible that Shapira was guilty of not preventing a crime or of having ordered it to be carried out. Noam wrote that the classified information presented to the court by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office to back its suspicions was inadequate. After the hearing, police said they would not seek to appeal Noam’s decision to the Supreme Court. Shapira’s release is a major blow to Judea and police and Shin Bet efforts to link him to the arson attack. In related developments, Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court extended by three days the remand in custody of two adults arrested in connection with the arson attack. It also released a minor to 30 days of house arrest. Earlier in the day, Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ordered two minors also suspected of involvement in the incident to 10 days of house arrest. Until then, they had been held in custody.
