Israel jails Jewish extremist for 6 months without trial or charge

Israel has jailed a Jewish extremist for six months without charges or trial, expanding a crackdown against militant Jews and deploying a contentious measure typically used for Palestinians suspected of staging attacks. This was the first time the measure, known as administrative detention, was applied against an Israeli since the crackdown began following a pair of deadly attacks last week. Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon signed an order Tuesday that jailed extremist Mordechai Meyer, from the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim, for six months. A statement from Yaalon’s office said Meyer, 18, was being held in connection to “his involvement in violent activities and recent terror attacks.”

Legally speaking, you can’t take a person and put him in jail, without having evidence against him.

Meyer’s lawyer, Adi Keidar

The detention intensifies a crackdown on Jewish militancy that came after two deadly attacks last week. On Friday, suspected Jewish extremists torched a West Bank home, an arson attack in which a Palestinian toddler was burned to death and his parents and 4-year-old brother were seriously wounded. A day earlier, an anti-gay ultra-Orthodox man stabbed six people at Jerusalem’s Gay Pride parade, and one of them - 16-year-old Shira Banki - later died of her wounds. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged “zero tolerance” for Jewish terrorism and Israel authorised a series of steps, including administrative detention, to help stamp out the trend. Right-wing Jewish activist Meir Ettinger has also been arrested after a Palestinian baby died in a West Bank firebombing.

(Meyer is detained for) his involvement in violent activities and recent terror attacks.

Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon’s office

Middle East Jewish extremist