Israel has jailed the first Jewish extremist under tough new regulations allowing Jews suspected of “terrorism” to be imprisoned without trial.
Mordechai Meyer, 18, from the East Jerusalem settlement of Maale Adumim, has been subjected to six-months administrative detention, reportedly for suspected involvement in an arson attack on an iconic Christian church in Galilee in June.
The order detaining him was signed by Moshe Ya’alon, the defence minister, after the Israeli attorney general, Yehuda Weinstein, approved the use of administrative detention following a fire-bomb attack last Friday on a Palestinian home in the West Bank that killed a one-year-old child and left his parents and brother fighting for their lives.
Administrative detention has previously only been widely applied to suspected Palestinian militants. The Israeli security cabinet agreed to extend it to Jewish suspects amid widespread outrage over last week’s arson in the West Bank village of Duma.
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!