fbpx

News

Israeli police crackdown on extremist anti-Arab group

[ssba]

Israeli police last night raided the Jerusalem offices of an extremist anti-Arab group after having arrested 10 of its members the day before on suspicion of incitement to carry our violence.

The crack down on the Lehava organisation comes after three of its activists in their late teens and early twenties were charged with carrying out a recent arson attack on the Max Rayne Hand in Hand School, a Jewish-Arab bilingual school in Jerusalem. A classroom and a playground were set on fire and offensive graffiti was also sprayed on the school’s premises. The attack was roundly condemned by Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum.

Lehava says that it opposes what it calls “assimilation” between Jews and Arabs and the group drew headlines last summer by protesting outside the wedding of a Jewish woman to an Arab man. However, the group’s members propagate the ideology of the Kach Party, which was outlawed in Israel during the 1980s for inciting racism.

On Tuesday night, the homes of Lehava head Bentzi Gopstein and other activists in Jerusalem, Kiryat Arba, Petah Tikva and Netivot were raided. They were arrested on suspicion of inciting violence and a Jerusalem court yesterday extended Gopstein’s remand for three days. Last night, police raided the Jerusalem offices of Lehava and said that it had been carrying out an extensive and complex undercover investigation into the group. Israel Radio reported that the premises are also used by the Otzma Yehudit party, a far-right faction thought to be planning a Knesset election campaign.

Hatnuah leader Tzipi Livni, who until recently was Justice Minister, applauded the crackdown against Lehava. She called “to uproot those who fan hatred and violence and incite to racism” and said that such people “have no place in Israeli society.” Meanwhile Meretz leader Zahava Galon called for Lehava to be designated a terror organisation, saying that “announcements and publicized arrests aren’t enough.”