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| Israel Cracks Down on Lehava, a Group Tied to Anti-Arab Acts | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| JERUSALEM — Ten members of a far-right Jewish organization were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of incitement and calls for acts of violence motivated by racism, the Israeli police said. The arrests came against a background of heightened Jewish-Arab tensions in Israel and Israeli-Palestinian hostility. | JERUSALEM — Ten members of a far-right Jewish organization were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of incitement and calls for acts of violence motivated by racism, the Israeli police said. The arrests came against a background of heightened Jewish-Arab tensions in Israel and Israeli-Palestinian hostility. |
| The police crackdown came a day after three activists from the group, Lehava, long known for provocative anti-Arab activities, were charged in a November arson attack against a Jewish-Arab bilingual school in Jerusalem. There are growing calls in Israel for the group to be outlawed. | The police crackdown came a day after three activists from the group, Lehava, long known for provocative anti-Arab activities, were charged in a November arson attack against a Jewish-Arab bilingual school in Jerusalem. There are growing calls in Israel for the group to be outlawed. |
| The police have described Lehava, Hebrew for “flame” and an acronym for Preventing Assimilation in the Holy Land, as acting against mixed Jewish-Arab couples in the spirit of Meir Kahane, an American-born rabbi whose Kach party was banned in Israel two decades ago on the grounds that it was racist and undemocratic. Rabbi Kahane was shot to death in a Manhattan hotel in 1990. | |
| Itamar Ben-Gvir, a lawyer representing the 10 suspects, called the arrests a “disgrace,” saying the police had capitulated to pressure from leftist politicians “even though it is clear to them that this is a legal organization that operates openly against assimilation.” | Itamar Ben-Gvir, a lawyer representing the 10 suspects, called the arrests a “disgrace,” saying the police had capitulated to pressure from leftist politicians “even though it is clear to them that this is a legal organization that operates openly against assimilation.” |
| Mr. Ben-Gvir, who is a prominent ultranationalist activist, also represents the three men charged with arson: a 22-year-old man from Jerusalem and two brothers, ages 20 and 18, from the ultra-Orthodox settlement of Beitar Illit in the West Bank. Mr. Ben-Gvir said they confessed after their interrogators from the Shin Bet internal security agency threatened them. | |
| The nighttime arson attack at the Max Rayne Hand in Hand school prompted condemnation across the Israeli political spectrum. Two empty classrooms were set on fire. Graffiti sprayed on an outside wall included the slogans “Death to Arabs,” “No coexistence with cancer,” “Kahane was right,” and “Stop assimilation.” | The nighttime arson attack at the Max Rayne Hand in Hand school prompted condemnation across the Israeli political spectrum. Two empty classrooms were set on fire. Graffiti sprayed on an outside wall included the slogans “Death to Arabs,” “No coexistence with cancer,” “Kahane was right,” and “Stop assimilation.” |
| Among those arrested on Tuesday was Benzion Gopstein, the leader of Lehava. Mr. Gopstein, a Kahane disciple, was filmed at his daughter’s wedding last year as young revelers sang “Kahane lives!” Asked by a reporter for Israel’s Channel 2 news what would happen if there were an Arab waiter present, a grinning Mr. Gopstein replied that he would not be serving the food but rather “would likely be looking for the closest hospital.” After the main course, some of the guests donned masks and danced with table knives, jabbing them in the air like daggers. | Among those arrested on Tuesday was Benzion Gopstein, the leader of Lehava. Mr. Gopstein, a Kahane disciple, was filmed at his daughter’s wedding last year as young revelers sang “Kahane lives!” Asked by a reporter for Israel’s Channel 2 news what would happen if there were an Arab waiter present, a grinning Mr. Gopstein replied that he would not be serving the food but rather “would likely be looking for the closest hospital.” After the main course, some of the guests donned masks and danced with table knives, jabbing them in the air like daggers. |
| Mr. Gopstein’s wife, Anat, told Ynet, a Hebrew news site, that the police raided their home in a West Bank settlement on the edge of Hebron early Tuesday and took books written by Rabbi Kahane and pictures of him, T-shirts printed with Kahanist and Lehava logos, and computers and cellphones. Video footage showed Mr. Gopstein sitting in handcuffs while the police searched his bookshelves. Asked about the school arson, Mrs. Gopstein said her husband was “opposed to illegal activity.” | |
| Lehava has recently raised its profile, feeding on public anger fanned by the 50-day war against Hamas in Gaza in the summer and a recent wave of Palestinian attacks against Israelis in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the West Bank. | Lehava has recently raised its profile, feeding on public anger fanned by the 50-day war against Hamas in Gaza in the summer and a recent wave of Palestinian attacks against Israelis in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the West Bank. |
| The police also arrested eight Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem this week on suspicion of spreading incitement on social media. The police said that the suspects had praised the attacks on Israelis and encouraged further attacks, and that they had been photographed posing with guns. Israel has also accused the Palestinian Authority leadership of incitement to violence. | The police also arrested eight Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem this week on suspicion of spreading incitement on social media. The police said that the suspects had praised the attacks on Israelis and encouraged further attacks, and that they had been photographed posing with guns. Israel has also accused the Palestinian Authority leadership of incitement to violence. |
| Lehava’s activities stretch back several years and are documented in a recent report titled “Racism and Gender in Israel” by the Israel Religious Action Center and the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, groups active against racism. In May 2011, Lehava posted fliers in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem denouncing a supermarket chain that employed Arabs, with the slogan, “Do you want your grandson to be called Ahmad Ben Sarah?” The group began distributing “kosher certificates” to businesses that did not employ Arabs. | Lehava’s activities stretch back several years and are documented in a recent report titled “Racism and Gender in Israel” by the Israel Religious Action Center and the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, groups active against racism. In May 2011, Lehava posted fliers in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem denouncing a supermarket chain that employed Arabs, with the slogan, “Do you want your grandson to be called Ahmad Ben Sarah?” The group began distributing “kosher certificates” to businesses that did not employ Arabs. |
| Racial incitement is punishable by up to five years in prison, according to Moshe Negbi, the legal expert for Israel Radio. | Racial incitement is punishable by up to five years in prison, according to Moshe Negbi, the legal expert for Israel Radio. |
| A coalition of anti-racist groups has petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court against the state attorney, Lehava and Mr. Gopstein. Among other things, according to the petition, Mr. Gopstein praised the Jewish teenagers who attacked Palestinian youths in downtown West Jerusalem in August 2012 and left one 17-year-old unconscious and hospitalized. Around the same time, Lehava distributed fliers warning Arab men not to date Jewish girls. The court case is pending. | A coalition of anti-racist groups has petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court against the state attorney, Lehava and Mr. Gopstein. Among other things, according to the petition, Mr. Gopstein praised the Jewish teenagers who attacked Palestinian youths in downtown West Jerusalem in August 2012 and left one 17-year-old unconscious and hospitalized. Around the same time, Lehava distributed fliers warning Arab men not to date Jewish girls. The court case is pending. |
| Anat Hoffman, the executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center, said the first complaint against Lehava had been made four years ago. “Under the guise of fighting intermarriage in Israel they are distributing plain old racism,” Ms. Hoffman said, adding that Jewish-Arab intermarriage was a marginal phenomenon. | Anat Hoffman, the executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center, said the first complaint against Lehava had been made four years ago. “Under the guise of fighting intermarriage in Israel they are distributing plain old racism,” Ms. Hoffman said, adding that Jewish-Arab intermarriage was a marginal phenomenon. |
| The group made headlines in August when it tried to disrupt the wedding of an Arab groom from Jaffa and his Jewish-born bride, who had converted to Islam. The groom had asked for a court injunction against the group’s planned protest outside the wedding hall in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Lezion, but the court allowed the protest on the condition it was confined to a parking lot about 200 yards away. Despite being publicized for days in the mainstream Israeli news media, the demonstration attracted only about 300 activists. | The group made headlines in August when it tried to disrupt the wedding of an Arab groom from Jaffa and his Jewish-born bride, who had converted to Islam. The groom had asked for a court injunction against the group’s planned protest outside the wedding hall in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Lezion, but the court allowed the protest on the condition it was confined to a parking lot about 200 yards away. Despite being publicized for days in the mainstream Israeli news media, the demonstration attracted only about 300 activists. |
| Representatives of Lehava denied having a racist agenda and said they were interested only in what they called the preservation of the Jewish nation, but some of the demonstrators chanted “Death to Arabs” and other hate slogans. About 150 counterdemonstrators stood across the road from the wedding holding flowers and heart-shaped signs congratulating the couple. | Representatives of Lehava denied having a racist agenda and said they were interested only in what they called the preservation of the Jewish nation, but some of the demonstrators chanted “Death to Arabs” and other hate slogans. About 150 counterdemonstrators stood across the road from the wedding holding flowers and heart-shaped signs congratulating the couple. |