JERUSALEM
The Israeli authorities on Monday arrested and interrogated a Jewish extremist accused of planning attacks on Palestinians living in Israel and the occupied territories, according to reports in the Israeli press.
The arrest was the first of its kind since last week’s arson attack in the West Bank village of Duma, in which an 18-month-old Palestinian baby was killed by suspected Jewish extremists.
“Meir Ettinger, [an Israeli citizen] who had been wanted by Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency, was arrested from his apartment in the city of Safad,” Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Tuesday.
Ettinger is accused of leading a group of Jewish extremists who planned to commit a series of attacks on Palestinians as part of a plan he referred to as “the revolt”.
According to the newspaper, Ettinger’s group was responsible for an arson attack in June on a historical church in Israel located on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Neither Ettinger nor any members of his group, however, have been accused of involvement in last Friday’s deadly arson attack in the village of Duma.
