Police nab 3 youths for firebombing Palestinian taxi

Two weeks after 6 Palestinians were injured by a Molotov cocktail, police arrest three 12, 13-year-old suspects from Bat Ayin.

By BEN HARTMAN, MELANIE LIDMAN
Two suspects in firebomb attack in J'lem court 370 (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)
Two suspects in firebomb attack in J'lem court 370
(photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)
Nearly 10 days after the firebombing of a Palestinian taxi that wounded six family members, police on Sunday announced the arrest of three suspects in the attack.
They are boys between 12 and 13 years old, and from the Bat Ayin settlement in Gush Etzion, south of the capital.
At the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Sunday night, all three suspects were diminutive and looked every bit their young age. They appeared to be in good spirits and were taken out of the courtroom to the cheers of two friends waiting for them.
Two of the suspects are 12 years old and one is 13. Police detained them Sunday afternoon and continued to question them Sunday night. If investigators are not able to turn up more information by Monday morning, the boys will be released to house arrest.
The youths’ lawyer, David Halevi, said the fact that the suspects may be released on Monday is proof that “the police have no meaningful evidence against his clients.”
He said that the weakness of the case is illustrated by the fact that the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) already questioned them following the crime along with a number of additional suspects, but did not arrest them.
Halevi represents the suspects on behalf of the Honenu organization, which defends Jewish suspects accused of crimes against Arabs. Halevi also represents a 15-year-old girl who is one of the main suspects in the brutal mob beating of an Arab boy, 17, in Jerusalem’s Zion Square on August 17, the same night the Palestinian taxi was attacked.
Gush Etzion Regional Council head Davidi Perl said he strongly condemns the firebombing, but that it was important not to race to judge the three teens before they were charged.
“They are still just suspects,” he said.
The settlement of Bat Ayin also condemned violence against what it termed innocents, but rejected any connection to the attack.
"We are certain that none of our residents had a hand in this grave incident, which goes against all human and Jewish values," a statement said.
Tovah Lazaroff and JPost.com staff contributed to this report.